The Torrent Settles
by Sukidayo17
Summary: Hey there evryone! I just decided to upload the last two chapters for my story. That way, I'm at a DONE with it. R&R and make me happy.
1. Chapter 1

**The Torrent Settles**

**A/N:** Yay me! I got the 1st chapt of my fic up! I don't own the Ronins but the character of Azia is mine. This chapt is rated for everyone to read. Please R&R and let me know how you like this chapt so I can decide whether I should add the second. I also want to point out that I made up a place where Cye Mouri was born. If anyone knows the proper place where he was born and where he grew up let me know so I can fix it before I get kicked or sued for it. Cheers!

_**CHAPTER 1**_

****The Han' A High courtyard was buzzing with action late in this afternoon. Student upon student ran around wishing all of the school teams good luck in the upcoming finals of the respected sports.

Cye Mouri, the eighteen-year-old bearer of the Armor of Torrent was one of the team members getting good luck slaps from the guys and smiles form the girls. His good friend, Ryo Sanada, was another. Cye was one of the best swimmers on the boy's swim team, having the fastest time. Ryo was a soccer player, one of the better ones, but he does get beat out every now and then.

It was Friday afternoon and Cye waited with Ryo at the courtyard fountain for their other friends to meet up with them to have a Friday night get-together with their girlfriends.

"Where are they?" Ryo asked irritated, looking at his watch for the umpteenth time. "It never took them this long to meet us."

"Chill, man." Cye said while splashing his hot headed friend with the cool water of the fountain. "They'll be here. So they're late; big deal. Just sit back down and wait."

"But I was supposed to meet Sam ten minutes ago."

Cye only sighed. Sam was a foreign exchange student form America on a program for their Japanese class. Ryo was the first person she laid eyes on when she got into the Tokyo airport considering he was the one who had to pick her up and drop her off at her temporary home. Their eyes met and they just clicked, then one month later they are serious about each other. Sam is a hothead just like Ryo and they suit each other perfectly. Apart from being a hothead, she has a very good and charming personality and knows how to pick someone up when they're down. She's also on the girl's swim team. Other times, she acts like her Yankee heritage.

While thinking about Sam, his other thought went to the rest of his friends' girlfriends. Sage Date, Armor of Halo, finally managed to settle on _one _girl instead of dating a girl a day. No, the lucky girl to snag Sage happens to be another foreign exchange student from Albuquerque New Mexico. Dania is a shy girl, but very easy to get along with. Even though she and Sage like to be around each other and do things like they were dating, they would both deny it as soon as the subject comes up.

Then there was Anna. How Kento was even able to find her was beyond Cye's understanding. She is basically a female version of Kento when it comes to a good video game or a good kick-ass fight with someone. But she's the complete opposite when it came to food. She always kept Kento in check, never letting him over-stuff himself. As a matter of fact, Kento lost about ten pounds after meeting her.

Anna is a pure born Japanese girl. She was born and raised in Japan, but moved to the United States with her family and lived there for about six years before they packed up and hightailed it back to good old Japan. Kento was grateful because nobody matches Kento as well as she does.

As for Rowan, Armor of Strata, he met his chick friend in the one place that is his second home. Jay Lee has a part time job at the Tokyo library and she looks forward to seeing Rowan every day since she doesn't go to their school. Jay Lee's love for books and literature caught Rowan by the brain stem. She is a very pretty girl with an attitude to show for it and an aptitude to make Rowan proud. Even though she was born in Korea, her family moved to Japan due to her father's job promotion.

After thinking about all of this, Cye couldn't help but feel semi- left out. He was single, and sometimes he thought he would always be that way. When he was younger, he tried to find a relation with a girl. It was hard for him, and it got harder after getting pulled into the Dynasty Wars. But that was about three years ago, and the group has long since hung up their armors. Now it was harder than ever, so he just gave up and spent as much time he could with his friends before they decide to tie the knot with their girls and move on.

Sage and Ryo have a different idea though. They saw how alone Cye was and would try to hook him up with every girl they think would be a perfect match. None of them turned out that way but they did some close. However, she ended up moving back to Russia because of her being an illegal import. Cye didn't talk to Ryo or Sage for weeks after that incident. He couldn't even remember what her name was.

Ryo grumbled under his breath when he looked back at his watch. According to his grumble, it was already ten minutes past four in the afternoon, and the guys have yet to show. Cye laid down on the edge of the fountain and watched the clouds to go by as Ryo pulled out his cell and dialed a number. Cye figured that by the way he said "hello" into the phone that he was talking to Sam and letting her know why they were late and asking if she could meet them by the courtyard fountain. He hung up and dialed furiously as he tried to contact the others to yell at them.

After another ten minutes, Ryo sat down on the edge of the fountain and made a huffing sound of annoyance. Cye lifted his head to look at his friend.

"Well?" he asked.

"Sage went to pick up Dania, Kento is stuck in traffic with Anna and Rowan forgot that Jay Lee was working late. Sam was running late as well so I had her meet us here. The others said they would contact either you or me if they can't get here within twenty minutes and to just head right over to the mall and they'll meet us there."

Cye only nodded and laid his head back down.

-One Week Later-

"Honey, you have to get to bed now if you want to make your flight tomorrow." A woman with a strong English accent said from downstairs.

"Okay, Mum." A girl answered in a similar accent. "Everything is down in the main foyer ready to head out to Tokyo."

Alvina slipped into the warm thermal bedding of her twin size bed in Cardiff England. Tomorrow, she was to get on a plane bound to Tokyo Japan. Why she even went along with her mother's idea of becoming a foreign exchange student was beyond her, but her mother said it would be a good idea to see what living where her father did all his life was like. Alvina loved her father dearly, and she just guessed that it was this love that had her say yes. She wasn't scared of the language barrier. Her father talked to her in Japanese and her mother talked in English, so she learned both languages and could speak both fluently. She eve served as a translator when her father would slip into his native tongue.

Before she turned off her lamp, she smiled at the picture of her Father smiling back at her.

"I love you, Papi." She said in Japanese before turning off the light. She rolled around and snuggled under her comforter. Her black cat, Salem, lay down under her chin. Her father had given him to her as a gift. She named him Salem because he reminded her of the Salem character on Sabrina the Teenaged Witch. She loved that cat, and her followed her like a devoted friend, and for the occasional tuna she would give him as a treat.

Speaking of tuna and all things from the water world, she was looking forward to the surfing possibilities she could get when in Japan. She loved to surf, and the surf in Cardiff was okay, but she wanted real action. But falling asleep with considerations about where she would stay and if the people would be nice was making her nervous. She didn't know if they would allow Salem, but she didn't care. Salem was coming no matter what.

Alvina waved to her mother as she ran to the gate that housed her plane. She was running late because of the registration of having a pet on board. After it was all settled, she only had minutes to get to the gate and into her seat. Lucky for her they had to delay the plane because another passenger got sick and had to be escorted off the flight.

Once aboard, she looked out the window to see her mother standing by the glass looking area in the airport. From the angle she was sitting, her mother would not be able to see her, but Alvina saw her mother praying she would be okay. Her mother made her swear that she would call as soon as she got to her hosting home, no matter what time it was.

The flight had already lifted off and was on its way to Tokyo. Alvina sat back and took out her sketchbook out and continued her recent sketch of the sea. She loves the sea, the creatures and everything. She loves how calm it is one minute and can turn into a tempest the next and just as easily return to calmness. She often described herself as the sea, and if you got to know her, which was rare, you would say the same.

But she didn't have friends trustworthy enough for her to confide her secrets to them. She had secrets like everyone else, but these were different. She would soon find herself in the insane asylum or as a specimen to the government agencies dealing with the paranormal. She had abilities that were abnormal to the human race. One of these abilities were to take in tons of information as soon as she hears it. That's why she was the smartest student anywhere in England. She's only a junior, but she takes senior classes.

But she learns more than that. She's also a part of a gang that roam the streets at night. She doesn't hang with them so much. But her attitude could make her seem the part. She's a master at picking locks and getting out of tight situations. She was pretty much a master at anything. Martial arts, dancing, singing, anything you can think of in the arts department. But these were okay to let people know about. She just had to make sure her tempest side was always under wraps, as well as anything she does in the water. She was on the swim team in her school in Cardiff, but she's able to control her actions.

_I wonder if the high school I'm gonna attend has a swim team? _She thought. She looked out the window and saw that the plane had landed somewhere to refuel. She neither wondered nor cared where she was, but she just thought that she was only half way to her new home for the remainder of the school year.

Cye had just gotten out of the showers after doing practice laps with the team. As he was drying off, he listened in on the conversation the other members were having about the new exchange student who was scheduled to arrive sometime around ten that night.

"The teachers say this guy is the best swimmer where he comes from," a dirty blond boy said

"I heard it was a girl, and that she was the best gymnast the world has ever seen"

"I thought she was an art student."

"No. _He's _a musician."

"I saw a picture, and _she's _a babe."

"You guys are starting to sound like the girls," Cye said as he walked to his locker. "Are you sure you don't want to be the _girl's _locker room?"

"Watch what you say Muori," a tough guy said. Darres Hiarai was the second best swimmer on the guys' team next to Cye, and he hates it when he looses to him by mere seconds. He's taller than Cye by about three inches and outdoes him in strength by fifty bench pressing pounds, and his body is lean enough to slip through the water as fast as he could go. Cye gets only little enjoyment from pissing him off, but he doesn't take it too far to start a physical fight. He hates fighting.

"Why should I?" Cye asked, going out on thin ice.

"Because it's gonna get you hurt, punk." Darres leaned against the locker next to Cye's and stared at him with almost black eyes. "Why would you even care about the exchange student? If it were a girl, you wouldn't care 'cause you can't even hold onto one to save your life. If it was a guy, you might care if he was faster than you in the water. That would only give me something to rub in your face."

Cye quickly dressed and closed his locker. He just wanted to get out of there. He hated Darres, and Darres knew that. That's why he messed with him. Cye only pissed him off for something to do, but he hated fighting. Being thrown into the Dynasty Wars did nothing to help that, but strengthen his hate for the violence. He only fought because that was what he had to do at the time for the greatest good. He doesn't even like the idea of Kento and Anna playing those combat games.

Cye would be just perfectly happy swimming in any body of water or cooking in front of the stove for the rest of the gang. Which brought him to the subject of what he was going to make for dinner that night, and how much food he needed to make. He knew that the girls were coming over to watch a movie, so that meant he needed to make enough for nine people. He didn't have to worry about Mia because she was in the US on some kind of internship of some sort.

Not to mention that he had to stop at the butcher shop to get fresh meat for White Blaze. Sometimes, he hated cooking for the group, and even more so cause now he had to make double the amount what the girls come over.

The last class of the day was finally here and about twenty minutes before the last bell rang, he was called down to the office. He walked out of the room so some snickering people who thought he was in trouble for something or other. He tuned them out as he made his way down the hall to the main office on the first floor. The good thing was that the call would take the rest of the time of the day so he could go straight to his locker at the end of the day that was on the same floor.

He walked into the office and the receptionist pointed her pen towards the Headmaster's office door and he took a gulp for courage just in case he was in trouble. He walked through the door and found the Headmaster quickly writing something down on a sheet of paper. He looked up and smiled and pointed to a chair in front of his desk. Cye walked up to the desk and quickly bowed before sitting.

"Mouri-san," the Headmaster said cheerfully. "I have a job for you. But, I need to know if you have your drivers license."

"Yes," he said. "What can I do?"

"The Headmaster handed him a manila envelope and sat back in his chair. Cye opened it and took out the contents of the package, realizing immediately that they were Foreign Exchange papers.

"Her name is Alvina Hoppkins," the Headmaster continued. "She is currently on her way here and will arrive at the Tokyo National Airport around quarter to ten this evening. I want you there to greet her and transport her to your place where Ryo said it would be okay to have her. She is going to finish her junior year here even though she is taking senior courses, so she will practically be taking every class you have. I had her class schedule arranged so you or one of your friends will be with her at all times to help her and show her around."

Cye's mouth fell open when he heard this. He was called away from a study hall and a nice snooze to be told he had to play chauffeur for an exchange student who probably doesn't speak Japanese really well? This was crazy.

_Ryo, _he thought. _You and Sage better not be connected in this or so help me I will skin you both alive and feed you to a shark._

"Is there a picture of her so I could pick her out of the crowd?" he asked.

"She didn't send one. You'll have to make a lucky guess."

At that moment, the bell rang for the dismissal of the students for the new weekend and Cye stood up and bowed again before leaving, thinking every nasty word he could think of.

"Who are you two? Lost descendants of Lady Yenta or something? What's the matter with you and Sage? Can't you two take a hint that I'm done with being the guinea pig of your matchmaking experiments?"

Cye followed Ryo around the guestroom as they prepared it for the foreign guest they were hosting. Ryo kept quiet as Cye continued to rant on about their next experiment. Sage came in without a care with clean bed sheets and helped Ryo with the bed.

"I really hope this one works," Sage whispered to Ryo.

"Shut up Sage," Cye said. "Look you guys, I appreciate what you are trying to do for me, I really do. But you gotta stop. I doubt there is even a girl out there for me, but if there is, I want to find her _myself_. That means 'without your help'. Besides, the season finals are drawing closer and I can't have my mind on a girl right now. I want to concentrate on the team, and winning first for the guys' team. I mean, I would rather win it for the team than let Darres win it for himself and rub it in my face for the rest of the year."

When Cye noticed that the two weren't listening, he threw up his arms in defeat and left.

"Fine," he called from the hall. "Someone else can cook dinner tonight and do the dishes. And it better not be burnt or you are ALL going on diets."

It took him almost forty-five minutes to get to the Tokyo National Airport and find the gate to the incoming flight Alvina would be on. He wrote her name in Japanese on a cardboard sign and prayed that she spoke Japanese. The file didn't contain where she was coming from, with was a major pain. The only other language he knew was English, but with her name, he figured she didn't know it. He sat down on the provided seats and waited for the flight to arrive, thinking about all the different ways he was going to get back at Ryo and Sage. He was able to come up with ten different ways from the top of his head.

He looked at his watch and saw that it was almost quarter to ten. He looked out to see the plane being pulled to the elevated walkway. He stood up when he saw the first person get off the plane. As the large group of passengers piled out of the hallway, he held up the sign and prayed more that Alvina could read Japanese.

The plane had almost emptied when Cye was beginning to think he missed her. He did a quick scan of the crowd and looked back by the door to see a beautiful girl standing there. She had short straight golden orange hair and deep exotic blue eyes with a creamy complexion. She carried a tout bag that had a printed ocean scene with seashell straps. She wore a short white jean skirt and a white tank top that revealed her bellybutton piercing and a mouth-watering amount of cleavage. She had a blue denim jacket over that.

One of the things Cye noticed were her long and nicely sculpted legs. From where he was standing, they were smooth and silky looking. All in all, her body looked like a swimmer's, lean but not skinny. He saw her take a quick scan around the room, and she walked over to him when she saw the sign he was holding.

"Please tell me you speak Japanese or English." He cures himself for saying that, but he needed to know.

"Both," she answered. "And what ever happened to 'Hi, welcome to Japan, my name is…'?" Cye quickly recovered from his shock of hearing her speak Japanese fluently like she was speaking it her whole life. He held out her hand and shook her gently.

"Sorry," he said. "I'm Cye Mouri and I'm here to take you to your temporary home." _She has really soft hands._

"You can let go now." Cye jumped and pulled his hand away and quickly discarded the sign. He guided her to where the bags were and grabbed tow of her suitcases while she grabbed the third and made their way over to the Specialty Cargo hold where Cye gave her a strange and nervous look when he met her cat Salem.

"I hope it was all right that I brought him," she said apologetically. "My Mum doesn't like him very much and he would have given her a bloody hell of a bad time."

"So which is your natural language?" Cye asked as they made their way to the car.

"Both," she said. "My Mum id English. My Dad's Japanese. They taught me to speak both."

"Same thing here," Cye said. "Well, my Dad's English and my Mum's Japanese."

"What are the odds of that?" Alvina laughed as she slipped into English. She unleashed Salem from his cage and set him on the ground by her feet so she could help Cye with the bags.

"Won't he run away?" Cye wondered, looking at the small animal.

"Don't worry about him," she said putting the last bag in the trunk. "He's like a dog. He'll follow me everywhere."

Cye decided to her like a fellow Englishwoman and opened the passenger side for her. She smiled at him and set herself in the car. Cye waited for Salem to set himself on Alvina's lap before closing the door and making his way over to the driver's side. He started the car and drove out onto the road back to the Koji manor. He wanted to know more about the person beside him, and he knew he had to start the conversation somehow.

"So…" he started coming to a red light. "What part are you from? Your exchange file didn't say."

"As a country, England. As a city or town, I was born in London and I grew up in Cardiff. What about you?"

"I was born here in Tokyo. After a while my parents moved to London and there I spent a good portion of my childhood. Then I moved back here with my Mum after my parents' divorce. I still talk to my dad and all, but not very much."

"Wow, sorry about the divorce."

"Yeah, me too."

Cye made a left turn onto the dirt road leading to the manor. The streetlights illuminated the cherry blossom trees that lined both sides of the road. Alvina glued her face to the window to see the beauty in the trees she had never seen in person before. Cye chuckled and parked the car with the others belonging to his friends. On the other side of the lot were two other cars that belong to two of the girls.

"They're only budding," Cye said as he and Alvina gathered her things. "Give it about another month ad they'll be in full bloom."

"I bet it's a beautiful sight," she said in awe. Salem meowed in agreement.

"It's pretty spectacular, but hell to clean up. But, this is Mia's home and she does what she wants."

Cye walked slowly so he could prepare her for the possible welcoming party if there was one. Alvina paid close attention and repeated everything to make sure she understood and got everything right. When they finally made it to the front door, Alvina froze and in the darkness, Cye noticed she went very pale.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked, placing his hand on her arm.

"Just dead scared out of my mind." She whispered truthfully.

"Don't be," he reassured her. "They guys are cool. Besides, the Headmaster of the school your gonna be going to has put me in charge of looking after you. If they bother you in any way, let me know and I'll talk to them."

After getting a shaky nod from Alvina, he opened the front door that opened to the living room. He turned on the light and instead of a crazy welcoming, he got scolded by the guys and their girls for turning on the light and interrupting their movie. He threw them all dirty looks and allowed Alvina to walk through the door before closing it.

"Guys, this is Alvina Hoppkins. She's the foreign exchange student from England. Alvina, I want you to meet my friends and their girlfriends. On the couch is Kento Rei Faun and his girlfriend Anna Hyou. On the floor over there is Rowan Hasiba and he girlfriend Jay Lee Yun. Sitting on the love seat is Ryo Sanada and his girl Samantha, or Sam, Novell and lastly, that is Sage Date and his… uh… _friend_, Dania Knotts. Sam and Dania are also foreign exchange students that attend Han' A High. Ryo is on the school's Soccer team and Sam is on the girls swim team. I'm on the guys swim team."

"Hey," they all said at once.

"Hi, nice to meet all of you."

"Sorry for interrupting the movie. Come on Alvina, I'll show you where your room is."

Cye took a detour through the kitchen and Alvina followed him up the stairs to the second floor. Once up there, she followed Cye down the hall past a bathroom and five bedroom door, each painted a different color and each having a symbol engraved in the wood. She recognized the symbols and named them as she passed her herself.

_Wildfire, Halo, Strata, Hardrock and Torrent._

"Are you guys interested in the Ronin Warriors too?" she asked. Cye froze midway opening the guestroom door.

"Why do you ask that?" he asked with a shaking voice he could barely cover.

"The symbols on the other doors. Each of them represents one of the Warriors' armors. My Papi told me stories when I was little and I used to think they were real. Weird huh? But I did do some research and rumors are said that they do exist after all. I learned all about the myths and legends. They were called the Elementals or something, and that four other mystical armors were called the Seasonals. But to me, they're just stories I listened to when my father was still around."

"Your parents are divorced too?" Cye asked, calming down when he realized the secret was still safe.

"My dad was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was cashing a check at the bank when a bank robber freaked when someone tried to disarm him. My dad was shot three times and died on the scene."

"I'm sorry," he said.

"Yeah, me too."


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2 

****"If you need anything," Cye said. "My room is the light blue door. Don't hesitate to wake me up for anything."

"Thanks," Azia said. "I guess I'll see you and the guys in the morning?"

"Sure. I'm making breakfast in the morning. What would you like?"

Alvina leaned against the doorframe and looked at him with her deep eyes. She saw him stiffen and she smiled inside. She loved playing with guys this way. There was a reason her parents gave her this body, so she used it to its full extent.

"I never tried your cooking," she said sweetly. "What would you suggest I try?"

"Well, the guys don't complain about it. I think I'll make you my well known fried eggs over easy with whole grain toast, bacon and your choice of orange juice or milk."

"Orange juice for me and a small saucer of milk for Salem if you please."

Cye nodded and stared at her for a few seconds before he smiled and said goodnight again and moved down the hall and descended the stairs to the kitchen. Alvina closed the door and leaned against it and slid to the floor where Salem hopped onto her lap. For some strange reason or another, her body screamed at her for not doing what it wanted. Now, she regretted not reaching out and capturing those soft lips of his.

_What is going on with me? I just met the guy not even an hour ago and I'm flirting with him and already thinking about doing unmentionables to him… my Mum would have a cow if she could read my mind. He _is _cute though._

She picked up Salem and looked at him in the eyes.

"Do you think he's out of my league, Salem?" she asked. Salem gave her a cat look and made a purring sound as Alvina stroked his belly. "I knew I could count on you buddy."

Alvina picked herself off the floor and looked around at her new bedroom for the next year. It was suited for her possible needs. The bed was a twin size like at home with warm sheets and a cherry blossom embroidered comforter. The black metal headboard had a fake flower vine entwined between the bars for an accent. The walls were blue sponged over a creamy white background and it reminded her of the ocean. The carpet was a dark green, almost black color and her feet sank into it about a half-inch. The bedside table had a regular lamp with a white lampshade and a box of tissues.

Alvina lifted one of her suitcases onto the bed and opened it. She went over to the large vanity set and opened a drawer. She neatly placed her pants on one side and her shorts on the other. Opening the next drawer, she placed her shirts and tank tops. The third she used for her personals and the last she used for her pajamas. She then arranged her lotions and styling products in front of the big oval mirror.

She moved to the walk in closet and put away her assorted boots and shoes in the many opened boxes in the wall. She made a mental note to try that at home. She then filled the rack with her dressing items; skirts, pants, shirts, dresses. That sort of thing.

_Damn, _she thought. _It looks like I packed to stay. I know I had to have over packed a little. Oh well._

After all of her clothes were put away, she moved to the last of her big suitcases. She opened it and began to make the room her own. She taped up her sketches worth showing off and arranged her pictures on the small hard wood desk. She unhooked the bedside lamp and placed it on the top shelf in the closet. She placed her own blue lava lamp on the table and plugged it in and turned it on. She knew they were little kids, but it was a gift from her father she had received a month before the "accident". She then placed her favorite picture of her father next to it and then her electric digital alarm clock. She looked at her watch and set it for the correct time and set the alarm for five thirty in the morning.

After that, she worked on the bed. She carefully took the vine off and wrapped it up in a plastic bag, placing it with the lamp. She dug around in her suitcase and pulled out the multiple strings of seashells she made in a craft store with her mother. One of the very few things she did with her. She wove it around in the same fashion as the vine. After doing that, she took out a string of frosted Christmas lights and wove it around the bars as well. She would plug them in at night to give her a little light while she slept. Since the accident, she was afraid to wake up in pitch darkness, thinking that the shooter would be there in the dark waiting.

After putting the last suitcase in the closet with the others, she stepped back and admired it.

"What you think, Salem?" she asked her furry companion. He meowed in response and Alvina smiled. "I like it too. Just like home."

By the time she was finished decorating, it was nearly passed midnight. She stored the rest of her bags and such in the closet and quickly set up Salem's bed by the heater in the wall. On cold nights, he liked the heat. But he would just jump up on Alvina's bed and sleep next to her body for warmth. Alvina dressed in a pale blue cotton tank and large baggy pajama pants of the same color. She slid into the big soft bed that cocooned her in comfort. She wasn't used to sleeping in a bed this soft, but she wasn't complaining. Just before she dozed off, she reached over and turned off her alarm.

"I'll wait until I get used to the time difference before I go out on my early morning walks," she whispered to Salem, who had made his bed under her chin as usual. Alvina kissed his wet nose and fell asleep.

Cye was downstairs washing the dishes from dinner that the other guys had "forgotten" to do. They were still in the living room with the girls watching the end of _Titanic. _They begged Cye to stay and watch the end with them, but he declined. Out of all the movies based on the ocean, he hated that one. It was more of a tragedy, and Cye thought it should be watched with a companion. It wouldn't have worked for him. He thought about asking Alvina if she wanted to come down and watch, but she had to prepare her room to her liking and would have been tired. Instead, Cye came in and did the dishes.

After trying to scrub clean a burnt pot, he finally gave up and threw it in the trash. He was pissed. He knew this would happen. Now, he had to go out early tomorrow to buy new pots and pans before the guys woke up. That means he had to find a store somewhere in Toyama that opened before six thirty in the morning. No doubt there was a place like that.

He managed to get the other dishes clean, so he dried them and placed them back in the cupboards where they belonged. He then opened the fridge to get something to eat since he missed whatever it was that the other s made. To his surprise (sure…) he found that the fridge was empty, save for a moldy rotten sandwich he had forgotten was even in there.

"Damn you Kento and your stomach." He closed the door and cleaned a little more in the kitchen until he heard the end credit song of the movie. He listened as they turned off the TV and say goodbye to their movie dates before Cye listened to the girls walk out of the door to their cars.

"You guys enjoy the movie?" Cye asked while leaning in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room. The others yawned and nodded their heads in unison. Then, Sage being Sage piped up on the subject Cye was not in the mood to hear.

"She's hot, isn't she, Cye?"

"No idea what you're talking about," Cye said, trying to steer the conversation the other way.

"Yes you do," Ryo said. "We saw the way you looked at her when she walked upstairs. You couldn't take your eyes off of her."

"I still don't know what you're talking about. We only talked for about an hour."

"So?" Kento asked. "You two must've found something you guys have in common."

"We did."

"You gonna tell us?" Rowan asked, not wanting to be left out.

"Absolutely not. It's not my information to give away. You want to learn what I did, you'll just ask her tomorrow at breakfast."

"But you like her, right?" Sage asked hopefully. Cye figured he wouldn't hear the end of it until he gave him the answer he wanted to hear.

"Yes, I like her. She's a nice girl. Happy?"

The four others nodded their heads and directed their attention to the mezzanine above the TV. Cye looked up to see Alvina staring down upon them. She leaned against the wooden railing. She had on a light, almost pale blue tank with really baggy matching pajama pants. Her shoulder length hair fell across her face, placing shadows over her eyes. Cye noticed that she wore an anklet made of twine and seashells on her left ankle.

But there was something completely different from the girl he met at the airport. Her face was dark and her stare was cold, cold enough to freeze the blood in your veins. The group was unsure of what was happening.

"Are you o…okay, Alvina?" he asked. She continued to stare.

After another few seconds, she walked back down the hall out of sight. When they heard the door to her room close, they felt the oxygen come back to their lungs. They all looked at each other.

"Ooooooookay," Kento said shortly.

"What's up with her?" Rowan asked.

"We were probably talking too loud or something," Ryo said. "We probably woke her up."

"Okay, but that doesn't mean she couldn't say 'Excuse me, but you guys are talking too loud. Do you mind turning down a little so I could sleep? Thanks'"

"Sage has a point," Ryo said. "She looked like she was sizing us for execution."

"Way to go Mr. Obvious," Sage said. Ryo threw him a glance.

They all left it at that and decided it was time for bed. They had a busy day tomorrow. They were going to take Alvina to the Toyama Mall to get her school supplies and her uniform.

But Cye was having trouble sleeping. He couldn't stop thinking about the sudden mood swing. Alvina was so friendly in the car on the way here that it made no sense. He turned on the bedside lamp and opened the table drawer and pulled out her Exchange file. He flipped through the pages for the medical section and looked through the notes. According to the papers, she was physically and mentally healthy. It made him feel better that they weren't housing a deranged lunatic.

Cye read the rest of her file. Alvina was born January 21, 1972. Meaning that this January she would be seventeen. She was five feet, five inches tall at one hundred and thirty-eight pounds. Under school activities, she was a major in a lot of things. The top two that were listed were singing and swimming. She was part of the high school's girls swimming team with the fastest time.

After looking at the clock, he reluctantly placed the papers away, happy that she had no mental situations whatsoever. He turned off his lamp and rolled around in his bed. He pulled the covers up to his chin and fell sound asleep.

Alvina woke up slowly from her dreamless sleep. She waited a few seconds for her eyes to cope with the dim light the lights gave off. She focused on her alarm clock that was next to her face. It was six in the morning. After her brain calculated what the clock said, she was awake in no time. She never really needed an alarm. Her body was always set at six no matter where on the planet she was. She had always gotten up this early, weekend or not.

She hopped out of bed and went to the vanity. She got her personals, a blue and white tie-dye tank top and a pair of form fitting blue jeans with a beaded design on the bottom of her left pant leg. Before leaving the room, she patted Salem on the head. He stretched and went back to sleep. Alvina smiled and opened the door and made her way to the bathroom in the barely lit hallway.

She took a cool shower to get her body senses going. She dried herself with her towel and dressed. She added her deodorant and her black eyeliner, then some clear lip-gloss and a little mascara. She gathered her stuff and returned to her room. The hallway had lightened some more with the rising sun.

Putting her things back, she pulled on some socks and grabbed her leather boots and carried them downstairs. She placed the boots by the foyer in the living room and made her way to the kitchen. She shook her wet hair as she snooped around, looking at a board with notes and chore duties. When she heard a car pull up the driveway, she walked to the front door and looked out to see Cye's auburn head pop out of the driver's side.

She opened the door as he made his way to the door with a bunch of heavy bags. Alvina ran to help him and he was startled to see her up this early.

"I guess Sage isn't the only early riser anymore," he said. "Why are you up so early?"

"I'm up every day at six," she said, placing the bags on the kitchen table and mindlessly putting things away. Because of her snooping, she knew where certain things went. "Ever since I was ten I'd been getting up at six and going out for an early morning walk. Since then, my body just got used to it so I wake up automatically."

After getting confused with where things go, she gave up and sat down at the table. The kitchen was simple. A stainless steel refrigerator, matching stove, porcelain countertop with a built in sink and cutting board. The walls were a dark cream color with a ceiling boarder of Tuscany fruits. The floor was a light colored hardwood and a rug was placed under the table and chairs so the floor would not get scratched. The table itself was big enough to fit about bight people where the one in the dining room could fit almost fifteen.

She continued looking around when she caught the sight of a very large doggy door placed in the back door of the kitchen to go out into the forest.

"You guys must have a Saint Bernard for the doggy door to be so big." She said. Cye looked at the door and slapped his forehead for being so stupid.

"We don't have a dog," he said. "We have White Blaze. He belongs to Ryo and he's…"

As if on cue, White Blaze made his appearance and walked into the kitchen. Cye looked over at Alvina who had gone flour white. She stiffened at the sight of the large cat and she looked as if she was going to scream, but couldn't get the sound out. White Blaze saw the fear surrounding the new person and sat down by the door and looked at Cye.

"…a tiger." Cye finished. After a few minutes, Alvina calmed and some of her color returned to her skin. She realized that White Blaze would have attacked her if he was a wild animal. But she looked at the cat in the eyes and saw that he meant her no harm and that he only wanted to be friends. White Blaze cautiously made his way over to Alvina and gently placed his head in her lap. His tail flicked back and forth on the floor and it almost looked like he smiled at her. Alvina smiled back and started petting him.

"He's really sweet," she said scratching under his chin. "I just wish you told me about him earlier."

"Sorry, I forgot. How, I'm really not sure. It's kind of hard to forget about this kitten."

Cye watched as White Blaze basked in Alvina's attention, and how inhumanly happy she seemed. The thought brought him to the episode the night before.

"I don't mean to sound rude," he said. "But, what was with the mood swing last night? You scared us all shitless with that look you gave us." Alvina stopped rubbing White Blaze and looked at Cye with remorse.

"I want to apologize for that," she said looking at him. "You see, back in Cardiff, I'm what you would call a Bad Ass. I'm stronger than most of the guys in my school and I have a hot temper sometimes. It's not a mental problem; I just flip when someone goes too far in pushing my buttons. Think of me as… the ocean. I'm cool and calm one minute and the next I would break someone's arm if they tick me off enough. I heard Sage and Ryo bug you about things I could have told them if they just came to me. That really upset me that they needed a via to find out about me. I hope you and your friends could forgive me."

Cye looked at her. The way she looked back at him with those sorrowful eyes made him want to embrace her and soothe her. She was telling the truth about her temper issue, and she really did want to be friends.

_At least she's honest about it, _he thought. _Good friends will be honest to each other if they really want to be friends._

"Thank you for telling me this. The others aren't mad at you, just unsure of your mental stability. I know, that was harsh, but I don't know how else to state it. Just let them know about it and they'll understand."

"You're right, that was harsh, but I'm happy that you just came out and said it. That's what I like and want people to do. They're all worried that I would flip on them. That depends. If it's something about the way I act, screw them. That's who I am."

Having that conversation out if the way, Alvina insisted that she help Cye make breakfast. They made an abundance of waffles, pancakes of every flavor, eggs, bacon, and she taught him how to make her secret Breakfast Wraps.

"You MUST keep the secret to yourself," she said after seeing Cye's face light up after taking the first bite. "You are the first person I gave the recipe to that I haven't killed."

"You're joking with me, aren't you?" Cye asked.

"Yeah." They started laughing. Cye and Alvina both knew this was the start of a good friendship.

They stopped when the back door opened and Sage came inside. He kicked off his shoes and slipped his own slippers on and looked at the two blushing people at the stove. He had his own thoughts of what just happened, but he felt it wise to keep it to himself. He passed Cye and headed to the coffeepot and poured himself a cup and sat down at the table with some whole grain toast. Alvina looked at Sage's choice of food and glanced at Cye. He merely shrugged and gave a face saying "Forget about it."

But Alvina wouldn't. There was no way she was going to let Sage leave the house again without a proper breakfast. She placed one of her Wraps on a plate with some bacon and placed it in front of him. Sage looked at the plate and at Alvina. He smiled and slightly pushed the plate away.

"No thanks," he said. "I'm set."

Alvina smiled back and placed the plate in front of him again.

"You're not leaving this table until you try it," she said. "You seem undernourished. Coffee and toast is not the best thing to go on a shopping spree with."

"Shopping spree?" he asked. "What are you talking about?"

"We have to go to the mall to get Alvina's school supplies and uniform." Cye answered. "The Headmaster wants her totally prepared on Monday. We have to go today because the mall is closed tomorrow."

"Headmaster wants who prepared on Monday?" Ryo asked walking into the kitchen in a red shirt and blue jeans. He sat down at the table next to Sage and greeted White Blaze with a pat on the head. Alvina placed a plate of food in front of Ryo and he began eating.

"Me," she said. Kento came down the kitchen stairs and floated over to the stove where Alvina was making more food. Cye came up and slapped him on his butt with a spatula.

"What was that for?" he asked, rubbing the spot Cye had slapped him.

"You know the rules," Cye said shaking the spatula at him. "Into the living room until everyone else gets their food then you get whatever's left."

Kento made a growling noise and was marched into the living room with Cye on his ass the whole way. Rowan came in through the living room door with a smile on his face. He sat down at the table and Alvina placed a dark blue plate in front of him. She brought over the frying pan and placed another Wrap on his plate followed by a few strips of bacon.

"This smells good," he said as he started eating.

"It's my own Secret Recipe," Alvina said. "I came up with the idea a few years ago. This is the first time I ever let anyone else try it other than my Mum. What do ya' think?"

"Delicious." Ryo said taking his empty plate to the sink. Alvina looked at Sage who has yet to even touch it. She finally got fed up and walked over to him. She pulled out his chair and spun it around so they were face to face. Sage looked at her almost half scared. Alvina had her hands on the back of the chair on either side of his head. Her right knee was on the chair between his legs and in a position where she could kick him and do serious damage to his future reproduction things. The others looked at them with wide eyes, and Cye and Kento watched from the doorway.

"Look," she whispered so only he could hear. "I get the idea that you don't normally eat breakfast. Cye told me about it. However, I have a babysitting job I would do on Weekend mornings back in Cardiff. The little brats are just as stubborn as you are. Since they are only five years old, I'm easy on them. You on the other hand are a seventeen year old." She leaned closer to his ear and whispered something that made his eyes wide and his face pale. Alvina faced him again and smiled wickedly.

"Humor me," she said. She moved away and went back to the stove with a satisfactory smile. The four other boys watched in amazement as Sage picked up his fork and begin eating the food that was on his green plate.

"Alvina, how did you do that?" Rowan asked as Sage placed his empty plate in the sink and sit back down with the Saturday morning newspaper.

"I have my ways," she said preparing Cye's plate and handing it to him. He sat down and Alvina made her plate and sat down next to him.

"Okay Kento," she said. "The rest is yours." Kento made a cheering scream and piled whatever was left onto his orange plate. Ryo looked at the blond boy behind the newspaper.

"Wow," he said. "Alvina got you to eat a full meal. There's hope for you after all."

"Shut up."

After she was done, Alvina placed a large bowl of the raw meat on the floor for White Blaze per Ryo's instructions and placed a small saucer of milk and canned cat food for Salem who had recently joined them. She smiled at the sight: A giant snow tiger eating next to a miniature black cat. She thought about what she talked to Cye about earlier. She turned and looked at the other five boys.

"Guys," she said. The all looked at her as she shuffled her feet. "I just want to apologize for the way I acted last night. Cye said that the way I looked at all of you, you all must think I'm a deranged psycho. I just what you let you all know that I don't like it when people ask for information from someone else concerning me. It sort of ticks me off. Please, if you want to know about me, just ask. That's sort of the way rumors and lies get around."

They all nodded in agreement and Alvina felt more at peace knowing that her unexpected temper could rest with these guys.

"So, do you play any sports?" Ryo asked. "Like, are you on any teams back in Cardiff?"

"What teams are you on?" Rowan asked.

"Tennis, cross country, and swim."

"No kidding?" asked Kento. "Who good are you?"

"Pretty good. I'm the fastest on the team and I bring home most of the awards."

"You thinking about joining the girls team?" Cye asked.

"Not really," Alvina said. "But now that you mention it, I think I will. I'll just die if I don't get into water. Do you guys think…"

"Yes!" Alvina jumped as the five boys said that.

"The girls suck," Ryo said. "Sam's on the team and she'll tell you the same. The desperately need help."

"He has a point," Cye said. "I've seen them practice. They couldn't get into the sectionals last year. If you're really as good as you say, they could use your help."

"Okay," she said. "I'll try out on Monday."

"Good." Cye said. "With that settled, lets get a move on before the mall's parking lot gets all jammed up."


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 

Alvina's mouth dropped in awe as she looked at the biggest mall she had ever seen. Kento reached over and closed her mouth for her, which also brought her back to earth. They five boys laughed and Alvina tacked the closest one to her, which was Rowan.

"I have never been to a place this big before," she said as the group walked through the front doors. "This is a place that would make King Kong proud."

"You mean Godzilla," Kento corrected. "King Kong was China."

"Kento, who cares?" Rowan said rolling his eyes. "So how are we gonna do this?"

"Rowan, from what Cye told me, you are the nerd-type guy. You go wherever it is and get me my schoolbooks. Here's a list of the books I need. Ryo, you're the sports man. Get me whatever I might need for PE. Here is my cell number if you need my sizes for anything. Kento, when lunch comes, you have the duty to direct me to the best places in the Food Court. Cye, Sage… you two get the honor of escorting me to the shops where I can get my uniform."

After Alvina gave each of them the estimated amount of money they would need (with wide eyes from all of them when she pulled out the wad of yen) they all went their respected ways.

Cye watched as Alvina flipped through the racks of clothes. Sage explained to her that she would need a white dress shirt, a black or blue skirt that ranges from one inch either above or below the knee and a matching colored jacket with a black tie.

"I wear whatever compliments my hair," she said with a fake girly smile. "That and I just like the colors black and blue. One of each should work so I don't have to wear the same thing every day."

So it was settled. Alvina picked out one of everything. After checking out, they met up with Ryo and they all headed to the Shoe shop to get her some sneakers for PE and regular dress shoes for school.

Alvina bought two pairs of black slip-ons, each having a one-inch heel. She also bought a pair of sneakers that matched her light blue sports outfit Ryo got her. He also picked out some sparring pads, colored light blue as well, just in case she had that this year. After they checked out there, they headed for the Food Court where Kento went and did what he does best. Alvina was caught trying a little bit of everything thanks to him.

After eating, they headed to the bookstore to see what was keeping Rowan. He was just coming out with three large bags of very heavy books. Alvina looked in one of them and pulled out a three-pound book on Physics.

"This doesn't look at all like the junior copy I have at home," she said.

"The Headmaster's notes say that you're taking senior classes. This is a senior copy. That, and you'll be taking Physics."

"I'm just gonna adore this school," she said sarcastically.

As they finished the shopping, they decided to walk around the mall after putting the bought items in the trunk of the car. Alvina looked around at all of the stores with wide eyes. You could fit Buckingham Palace in the mall. Cye got into the shopping mood when Alvina directed them towards a small Sea Shop.

Cye looked through the different posters of marine animals while Rowan looked through the books on different aquatic life. Sage searched through the collection of seashells and crafted jewelry while Ryo went through the racks of clothes. Cye looked around for Alvina and found her over by the display of surfboards. He made his way over to her, and closer he came, the more descriptive her face became as she looked intently at a white surfboard with a pattern of blue and pink cherry blossoms.

"You like surfing?" he asked.

"No," she said. "I _love _it."

"Really?" Cye couldn't believe that he had more in common with her than he was with himself. He glanced to where Sage was and saw that he was whispering to Ryo about something that he agreed with.

"That's what I like about Cardiff," Alvina continued, bring Cye's attention to her again. "I mean, the place has okay surfing in the summer, but you get all that trash with it. I was hoping I'd get some surfing here, but my mother demanded that I leave my board at home. She said that this was not a vacation and that I had to concentrate on my continued studies.

"My father left me his entire life savings here in Japan. I've been good in using it for emergencies and school expenses. That's really what we agreed it was for. If I only had some pocket money, I'd buy this very board."

Cye was going crazy. Even though he didn't show it, he was fighting himself to control the urge to throw himself all over her. Luckily (and unluckily), an all too familiar voice broke his attention.

"Mouri!" Cye and the others, including Alvina looked toward the entrance to the shop. There, in his usual black attire, was Darres.

_Out of all the places to see this jerk, it _has _to be here and now? _Cye hit his head against the surfboard closest to him and cursed under his breath. Darres had made his way over to where he and Alvina were standing. Kento, Ryo, Sage and Rowan all closed in, ready to defend their friends if need be. They all knew about Darres and his egotistical attitude. But they were mostly worried about what he and the two other jerks he was with would do to Alvina.

"Aren't you a pretty blossom," he said to Alvina. "What are you doing hanging around these _weeds_?" Darres held out his hand in front of her and she took it in hers. "Darres Hiarai, at your service."

"Alvina Hoppkins, foreign exchange." Darres pulled his hand away and shoved his fists into his pockets, his two friends doing the same.

"Now," he continued. "Why would a nice girl like you be hanging around a pathetic group like this?"

"Pathetic?"

Cye looked at her, as did the others. Cye didn't know what Darres was trying to do, but it seemed to be working with the look on Alvina's face.

"How are they pathetic?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Well, Ryo here; he's too wound up in his soccer game to have a life. I never see him off of the field. I was thrown for a loop when I saw him at the mall on a Saturday. I honestly don't know why Sam is still with him, concerning he wouldn't even have time for her."

Ryo growled and made a move towards Darres. If it weren't for Rowan, he'd be all over the other boy.

"As for Blue Boy," Darres continued. "He's MIA all the time. I mean, I never saw Rowan read so many books. He's always at the library. I honestly don't know why he still goes. He had to have read them all four times already."

Now it was Ryo's turn to hold Rowan back. Alvina seemed to pay no attention to them, and how much Darres was pushing everything to the limit. But she did.

"And Nature Boy here… I don't even know nor want to know what Sage does with his time. And Kento should be in the circus with the way he eats. He's like a cow."

Ryo and Rowan both had to hold back their other two friends. Alvina made no move to do anything as she just stood there with realization in her eyes.

_Darres, you lying bastard. _Cye was getting sick of him, and fast.

"But Cye here," Darres said hitting Cye on the back like a good buddy. "He just wishes he could compete with me on the Swim team." Cye flipped,

"That's a lie and you damn well know it Darres!" he said. "I never thought you would stoop this low to actually think you're faster than me in the water. You're just ticked because I always finish seconds before you. Get real."

"You see how he denies it?" Alvina looked at Cye and the others. This went on long enough in her opinion. Nobody does that to her new friends and gets away with it. She looked at Darres and smiled at him, like she was flirting.

"Wow," she said. "I never knew…"

"Yeah, I know. I figured I had to tell you that you're walking with the wrong group."

"… that you are so bad at reading that you make it look like a bad thing."

"What?" Cye and the others looked at Alvina with the same question.

"You heard me," Alvina said getting harder with her words. "I can't believe that you would bad mouth literature that way. You probably never have been into a library before. I was surprised to hear that you are so out of sync with the world around you to put Sage's meditation techniques in the spot like that. I guess you never heard the wind sing or the land speak."

"Take it easy girly." Alvina was walking toward Darres and his friends. He put up his arms as to shield himself as they backed through the store towards the front doors. Alvina continued as the five boys looked at her.

"As for land sports, I bet you can't even kick a soccer ball into the net two feet away, and that you wouldn't know good cuisine even if it bit you on the ass.

"I'm also the exchange student from England. I will be going to Han A' High so I'll be sure to stop by the team while you practice to see how bad you are compared to the worst swimmer there."

"What is your problem?"

"My problem are punks like you bad mouthing the virtues of the only friends I have here in Japan, and to do it in front of me makes me sick. I just hope that the next time you say something like that, that you look around in every nook and cranny to make sure I am not listening. Why? Because I _will _find out, and I _will _kick your ass al over Japan if you do. Now get the hell out of my face before my Cardiff rep catches up with me."

Darres and his two followers bolted out of the open doors and ran down the room and out of sight. Alvina turned and looked at the five who were wide eyed at what happened.

"I know it's sort of weird to have o girl fight for you," she said. "But nobody bad mouths my only friends like that and gets away with it. Darres Hiarai has mad an enemy today whether he knows it or not."

"Alvina," Kento said. "You're just gonna have to move in with us for good. I don't want you to go back to England." The others nodded their agreement. "We'd miss you too much."

_And that's the truth, _Cye thought.

After spending most of the day at the park, they all decided to head out for dinner, since nobody wanted to cook. Alvina learned more about her new friends as they learned more about her.

"Okay Alvina," Kento said. "Series of questions. Favorite color, favorite movie, favorite pastime activity, favorite quote, favorite food, favorite animal, favorite gem, and favorite book or series. You have ten seconds… go!"

"Blue and white, Pirates of the Caribbean, swimming or surfing, 'Today is the tomorrow we worried about yesterday', fried rice, dolphin, aquamarine, Vampire Game Manga Series. How did I do?"

"You know what you like," Sage said looking at his watch. "Nine seconds."

"What's the one thing you cherish above all," Rowan asked. "And what's right under that?"

"My friends and family are priceless to me," Alvina answered. "Under that, my love for the ocean. I grew up around water, so I feel very comfortable around it. I wouldn't do so good if I was in a desert or cooped up very far inland without a lake or something."

"Wow," Ryo said nudging Sage to follow along. "You and Cye are almost exact copies of each other."

Cye looked at Ryo and tried to kick him under the table. Ryo moved his legs up onto the booth and Sage just winked at him. Cye blushed lightly and was grateful at Alvina didn't notice.

"So," he said, trying to change the topic. "What else do you do in Cardiff?"

"Tons of things," Alvina said. "I have this group I hang out with twice a week. I wouldn't call them friends though. It's one of those 'plus/negative' friendships. The entire group gets in trouble; they run and pin it on the runt. I was the runt. I got into doing a bunch of other productive activities to make an excuse to keep away from them. I still hang with them, but rarely since I was tagged by the police."

"Can you name some?" Sage asked. Alvina took a sip from her glass of Sierra Mist and thought about how much to say.

"I swim in the community pool any chance I get. Like I said this morning, I would go over to a family's house and sleep over and work as a nanny fir their two kids on weekends. I also sing at the community center and I take language lessons. I also work at a day care every day after school and teach art lessons. I also take them myself.

"People say I can't be human to do all of that and not be over stressed or tired. That and I have my own jerks like Darres to worry about. But they help me with anger management from time to time."

Buy that time, the food had arrived so the talking stopped as they ate. Knowing Kento, he was done before the plates touched the table. It was late when they finally made their way back to the Koji Manor. Alvina tried to keep her eyes open, but the motion of Ryo's jeep lulled her to sleep.

Cye watched as Alvina placed her head on his shoulder. Sage looked back from the front seat and Ryo glanced into the rearview mirror. Cye looked at them and sighed.

"Shut up," he whispered, not wanting to hear this topic again. Once at the manor, Kento carried Alvina into the house. Sage unzipped her boots and placed them by the door. They all followed Cye up the stairs and Kento placed her on her bed. Rowan pulled the sheets around her said good night to the others before heading to his room. Kento also said good night and went to his room.

Sage, Ryo and Cye were the last three. They stood outside her door and looked at her. Sage turned off the overhead light, and they smiled as they saw what Alvina did to the room. They looked at the string of lights around the metal headboard and at the different pictures and sketches around the room. Cye closed the door after he saw Salem slip inside and onto the bed.

"She'd like a female copy of you Cye," Sage pointed out again.

"Your point?" he asked coolly.

"Look, she fell asleep on your shoulder. I was watching. She was in a position where she would have done that to Rowan, but she moved at the last minute. She likes you man, and I know you have to like her too. It's in your eyes."

Without waiting for a reply, Ryo and Sage walked down the hall to their rooms, leaving Cye alone in the hallway. He opened the door a crack and looked back inside at Alvina's sleeping form.

Truth be told, he did like her. A lot. Maybe Ryo and Sage happened to come across the correct match for him after all. Watching her, he had a strange twisted feeling in his stomach. He knew it had to be that four lettered word, but he was sure Alvina must only see him as a friend… or did she?


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4 

****Monday came all too soon for the Ronins, but it didn't come soon enough for Alvina. She woke up early as usual so she could get her morning walk in and make breakfast for the guys. The night before she insisted that she do it, but Cye kept denying it and saying that she was the guest. She finally got him to be quiet about it by doing something similar to him like she did with Sage Saturday morning.

"Oh, come on Cye," Sage said while laughing at Cye's sulking. "It can't be that bad."

Cye only glared at him from across the table.

"So what are they gonna do to me?" Alvina asked the group.

"First, they're gonna give you a bunch of papers to fill out then they're gonna put you in front of the entire school."

"Kento," Rowan said. "I don't think she heard what you said with all that food in your mouth."

"I heard him," Alvina said. "Are they really that nosey about my personal life?"

"Yes," Ryo said. "But don't worry. Standing front of the entire school isn't that bad either."

"Yeah," Sage said. "It's only seven hundred or so students."

"That makes me feel so much better."

Cye was in a much better mood by the time they walked through the schools doors. While Cye, Ryo, Kento and Sage made their way to their homerooms, Rowan stayed with Alvina to help her with the papers and to give her a tour of the school since he was the only one with a first period study hall. He sat next to Alvina in the main office as she filled out the information papers, scratching her information down in Japanese.

"They _are _nosey," she commented as she flipped the papers to the fifth page. Rowan laughed and got hit with Alvina's pen as a result.

About a few minutes prior to the bell sounding the end of first period, Alvina handed the completed paper work. She smiled and pointed to the opened door to the Headmaster's office. Rowan followed Alvina into the office and they both stood in front of the "big boned" man. He was quickly writing something down on a sheet of paper. When he was done, he placed his pen down and stood to greet Alvina.

"Welcome to Han A' High Miss Hoppkins," he said. "Now come with me so we could set you up to meet the rest of the school."

He went over to the receptionist and mumbled something into her ear. She nodded and made an announcement over the PA system saying that all students and staff are to gather in the auditorium for a special greeting of a new foreign exchange student. After waving to Rowan, she was pulled away by the Headmaster. The bell rang and he made his way to the auditorium in the sea of students.

Walking into the large room, he searched out his friends and found them sitting in the center of the front row. He walked over to them and sat down Ryo and Cye. When almost of the seats were filled, Cye looked back at the rest of the students. But his gaze stuck on a group of three boys. Darres and his two creeps were sitting up in the balcony, a dangerous and evil look smacked on his face.

"He's planning something," Cye said. The other four boys looked up to look at Darres as well. Seeing the look on his face made them all shiver.

"You're right," Sage said. "We should keep an eye on him."

"But let's not worry about him right now," Kento said facing the stage. The Headmaster had taken the stage and was rapidly quieting the rest of the audience.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," he announced. "It is my pleasure to introduce a very talented young lady new to our school from Cardiff England. Now, let's all give her a very nice Han A' High welcome to Miss Alvina Hoppkins."

As Alvina walked on stage and up to the microphone, the entire room cheered and boomed with applause. Some of the boys whistled out to her which made her blush a little. The five boys in the front row were the loudest and Alvina smiled at them. When the audience settled, the Headmaster explained what would happen.

"Usually, we would just have our guests tell a little about themselves, but we decided that we should have a small question and answer type of thing. After, I will let you to the students so you can answer some of their questions."

Alvina nodded her consent and the questioning began.

"What's your full name?"

"Alvina Gladys Sakora Hoppkins."

"What is your culture?"

"English from my Mother's side, Japanese from my Father's."

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen. Seventeen in January."

"What do you do in your free time?"

"Different activities of my choosing."

"What do they include?"

"Well, the first thing I do is I try to get into the community pool or I go surfing. Swimming always comes first. If that's not an option, I'm usually stuck in the house where I would practice my singing, read, or draw to keep myself busy. Other than that, my activities include one of my many language lessons."

"What languages?"

"Italian, Spanish and French. Also known as the Romance languages."

As the questioning continued, Ryo leaned over to Cye.

"Aren't you trying to learn Italian?" he asked. Cye nodded his head a bit.

"But I'm nowhere close to understanding how to make the correct accents. I'm about to give it up."

"Maybe Alvina can help you," Sage said. "She's a natural."

"How do you know?" Cye asked.

"Because she's gonna recite a poem in Italian."

They guys looked up to Alvina who took a few deep breaths before she began.

"Il senso un corvo _Ha agitato giù su me_

_La polvere di neve_

_Da un albero del hemlock_

_Ha dato il mio cuore_

_Un cambiamento dell'umore_

_E risparmiato una certa parte_

_Di un giorno che ho avuto rued."_

"The way a crow 

_Shook down on me_

_The dust of snow_

_From a hemlock tree_

_Has given my heart_

_A change of mood_

_And saved some part_

_Of a day I had rued."_

Cye listened to the fluency of the Italian coming form Alvina's voice. They way she spoke was enlightening as she recited a Robert Frost poem. The way she spoke, the language seemed to be second nature to her, like she spoke it all her life. Cye couldn't understand where this _goddess _came from. She seemed to have appeared the Aphrodite did, out of the foam from the sea, perfect in every way possible.

Before he had time to think any more, the show was over and everyone was on their way to their fourth period classes since the gathering took two periods. Cye looked back up at the balcony to see Darres in more of a bad mood than when Cye first looked up there. He really was planning something, and that made Cye shiver in fear for some strange reason.

Alvina hopped down from the three-foot stage and joined the guys. They all gave her hugs and compliments on the show she put on. She thanked them all and smiled from ear to ear.

"That wasn't so bad," she said. "I actually had fun." Alvina looked at her folded schedule and tiptoed over to Cye who was still thinking about Darres. She hopped into his back playfully and sent them both to the ground. The others laughed and Alvina helped him up.

"You are so serious and quiet," she said. "I had to do _something _to get your mood up. Besides, you have to show me where the pool is. I have swimming next."

"Yeah," he said, rubbing his butt where he fell on it. "I do to. The Headmaster fixed your schedule to follow one of us around the entire day. After swimming, you have art with Sage."

"Well, lets get a move on!"

Cye and Alvina made their way down the stairs to the ground floor. They stumbled across Sam who also had Swimming that period. Alvina followed Sam into the girls' locker room where she frantically searched the different boxes for a new school suit that would fit Alvina. After finding her size, Alvina squeezed into the light blue one-piece suit. With Sam's help, she zipped up the back of it and looked into the full body mirror.

The suit looked similar to a scuba outfit. The legs went halfway down her thighs and the arms went halfway down her upper arm. It had a high turtleneck that almost choked her. There was also a white cherry blossom pattern that wove around her body from her right pant leg that ended at her left shoulder.

"Hey, Sam?" she asked, not bothering to speak to her in Japanese. "What do the guys wear?" Sam looked at her. Alvina winked and the two girls started giggling.

"The bottom half," she said. "Except the pattern wraps around their waist like a belt, sort of. And they're _really _tight."

The two of them continued to giggle and joke as they walked up the metal stairs to the main room with the two pools. One side of the room had the diving section and the other has the swimming. Sam explained to Alvina how the class worked.

"Swimming the pride of the school," she said. "This class will take two periods. The first period, girls are on the diving boards and the boys are practicing laps. The bell rings and we switch so the boys to the diving boards and the girls swim laps. In-between the two periods is a break. We only get about ten minutes to chit-chat and the last half an hour we do 'Battle of the Sexes' and see who can out swim who."

Alvina looked at the large gathering of students. There were about twenty-five people, respectively, in both groups. Even though most of the boys looked the same, Alvina was able to pick out Cye easily. He looked up and saw her. Sam excused herself while she went to speak with the two coaches. Alvina made her way over to where Cye was standing.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey. How you feeling?"

"A little nervous," she answered. Cye gave her a strange look. Then he realized that there was something wrong.

"What's going on?" he asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Did you ever feel like… I don't know… like you're gonna get hurt for being different or better than someone else?"

The question threw Cye off balance. He wasn't expecting her to ask him something like that. But he knew what she was talking about. He knew all too well. Sage, Ryo, Kento and Rowan knew as well. They had to go through the same thing when they first got their Armor Orbs. They had to get used to it, and they did get hurt for being different. But he couldn't say that.

"Yeah," was all he could come up with. "The others too. We all got hurt one way or another for being different or good in something. It's sort of called jealousy. But don't worry about it. The only person likely to be jealous here is Darres. He as an ego the size of Jupiter."

Alvina smiled and made her way over to the diving side of the room. She also had diving back in Cardiff, but even there she didn't like it. It wasn't a factor of heights, she didn't mind that, she just doesn't like diving from high above the water. She's fine with the starting dive in doing laps, but she could never keep her body straight enough to make the smallest splash. It just didn't work.

When she went through her third and worst dive, she went over to the boys' section and watched as they practiced. She was amazed at how fluent Cye was in the water. It was like he, too, was a part of it.

She's been thinking about him ever since she met him. She noticed all of the hints Ryo and Sage were pointing at him. They were trying to get Cye to make some kind of move to her. She wished he would. She liked him, a lot. And she hoped he liked her the same way. Except, she's afraid to bring it up.

This was a first for her. She was never afraid of anything in her life. She wasn't afraid of boys, of heights, all these psychological things, she was never afraid of. But that didn't mean she didn't have any fears. She just always denied them. Unless a stranger pointed a gun at her, well, she would believe it then. But being afraid of Cye and his feelings shouldn't shake her. She had her share of the male race. She had _experience _though it wasn't of the best kind. Of course, she almost regretted that time, but that is now beside the point.

Alvina's thoughts were disrupted as the whistle blew signaling the switching of the sides. Alvina smiled at Cye as she passed him and took a spot on one of the starting altars. When the whistle blew she dived and started swimming. She just let herself go, allowing the water to move her. She allowed the rhythm of her steady heartbeat guide her arms and legs. She made it to the other side and turned, going back the other way.

She could do this forever. She didn't need to breathe, she wasn't getting tired. The same beating of her heart went on and on, guiding her arms and legs in a steady movement. There was no problem about it, except that she forgot about the people around her and that she had done ten laps in less than seven minutes.

She stopped midway in the pool and looked at all of the faces staring at her from the side. Even the boys climbed onto the ladders and decks of the diving boards to get a good look at her.

_Oh shit. This wasn't supposed to happen. _Alvina swam to the closest edge of the pool and pulled herself out. Her heart was pounding faster now, not the steady beat as was earlier. As she made her way over to where she left her towel, she turned and ran from the room.

"Did you see that?" a boy said next to Cye. "Ten laps under seven minutes! That's even better than _you._"

"Shut up Monte," Cye said throwing him a look.

Cye and the boys made their way to the locker room, the whole time conversing on what they saw Alvina do. Cye on the other hand, couldn't believe his eyes. As he watched, he felt a strange tingling feeling in his gut that he hadn't felt in three years. The feeling came from his armor. His armor sensed power from Alvina when she was swimming.

"Mouri!" Cye jumped and turned to see Darres coming at him.

"What's the deal with her?" he asked, throwing him against a locker. Everyone went quiet. "Well? You know more about her. Spill, what the hell was that we all just saw?"

"Alvina, swimming. Doing what she does the best. What's the matter? Pissed that Alvina can do ten laps in the amount of time it takes you to do four?"

There was a loud intake in oxygen as the other boys moved out of the way. What Cye just said would have gotten someone else killed at that moment. Darres looked down on the auburn hair boy with raging black eyes. He raised a hand in a fist and brought it down hard.

Darres dropped Cye and he backed out of the way. Darres turned to him and pointed his red fist at him.

"You had better warn her about what she just did to my rep," he said. "Otherwise, she will look ten times worse than that locker."


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5 

Alvina needed air. Good thing for her that this was her lunch period. She roamed around the courtyard and found a quiet place by the edge of the forest. She sat in the shade of an oak tree and played with the grass near the trunk of the tree.

She felt terrible. She wasn't supposed to let go like that. That was supposed to stay secret. But of course, everyone in that room now knows what a freak she was.

"What sick Supreme Being thought it would be funny to curse me with fish properties?" she asked the heavens in Italian, so no one would understand what she was saying. "Did you think it would be funny to put a fish on land and see what the humans would think? Huh? I demand to know. This isn't fair to me to be a damn lab rat for You. I mean, I might as well be a damned-to-hell walrus for Chrissakes."

She leaned against the trunk of the tree, tears welling up behind her eyes. It was just the way her body formed. She came to that conclusion. It was some twisted chromosome that she got from God knows where. A chromosome that allowed her to hold her breath for three hours straight. A chromosome that made her body especially for the water. A chromosome that made her stronger than five grown men. Everyone back in Cardiff was correct in saying she was freak. That same chromosome made it possible for her to learn anything instantly. As a matter of fact, she was fluent in almost any language. Se could do almost anything.

_I am such a fool to think I could leave all of this in Cardiff. I knew it would catch up with me sooner or later. I can't stay here. I'm packing up and I'm leaving. _

She quickly got up and started towards the school, but ran into Cye.

"Alvina," he said, "I was looking everywhere for you."

"Keep looking," she said. She tried to walk away but Cye held on her.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm not Alvina. At least, not the Alvina you knew three days ago."

"I don't understand," he said. "You're not making any sense. No, stop. Sit down, I want you to talk to me. I'll listen."

She looked at him through teary eyes. He was strong, but she was stronger. She just didn't want to break away. She gave in and fell to her knees, crying. Cye knelt down beside her and wiped away her tears. He waited until she regained most of her composure.

"I'm a freak," she said simply. "I was born like this. No one could understand. Everything I told you was a lie, the twisted truth to what I really am. I baffled specialists around the world in the field of genetics. They did blood test after blood test and they all came out with the same thing: I had an extra chromosome in my genetic make-up. My parents were clean. Both of them normal and my grandparents on both sides.

"I was an oddity. The specialists had no idea how I accumulated an extra chromosome. I grew up being home schooled. I never went outside save for summer for a few days to go surfing or swimming. I never had any friends. Nobody knew about me. The foreign exchange papers were lies. I did belong to a school, but I never went. I'm a freak of nature who would rather live in the sea or die alone than to be ridiculed and beat up for being different.

"I lost control in there. I hadn't gone swimming in three weeks prior to me coming here. The urge was too great for me to handle."

Cye listened with understanding. Being thrown into the Dynasty Wars wasn't much fun for him. He did what had to be done, but it was hard going back to normal. All five of them had changed, but they didn't know if it would make or break the life they once had. Being Dynasty free for the past three years helped them get used to being simple teens again. They were able to do things they couldn't do before; one of those things was finding someone to share your inner thoughts with. Cye was the only one who didn't have that.

Cye thought back to when Sam, Dania, Anna and Jay Lee learned about their secret. It took them a while to believe it and to come to terms with it, but they were fine. The kept the secret, and if they were to all have an argument and break up the next day, they would still keep the secret. That's how much they all loved each other.

Alvina needed to know that she wasn't alone. Cye held out his hand to her and looked into her eyes.

"I need to tell you something, but I can't say it here." Alvina took his hand and he pulled her to her feet. Cye led her through the woods to a far point where they were well hidden and far away from earshot. Cye made a quick scan of the area to see if they were alone. He turned to Alvina and took a deep breath.

"You remember what you said the first night at the manor?" he asked. "You know, when you said something about us being interested in the Legendary Ronin Warriors?"

"Yes, but… what does have to do with you? It's just an interest, right? They're only stories."

"No, they're not." Alvina and Cye both turned to look at the other four teens that had made their way through the brush. The looks on their faces told Alvina that something was up, but she couldn't understand.

"What do you mean they're not stories?" she asked. "I don't know where this is going."

"Did you notice anything out of the ordinary three years ago?" Sage asked. She looked at him and almost considered running.

"Everything's out of the ordinary in Cardiff," she said. "Everything everywhere is out of the ordinary when you think about it."

"But did you?" Ryo asked.

"Yes. Lots of things. Out of season tempests, ground leveling earthquakes where it shouldn't happen, droughts, and insanity raging in New York. I mean, the news said it was worse than usual."

Cye realized that this wasn't getting them anywhere. He had to pick a different tactic to telling her what needs to be said.

"Exactly how much _do_ you know about the Ronin Warriors?" he asked, hoping that they could stay within task.

"Everything."

"Then start with the poem, if you know it." Alvina looked at Ryo. She wanted to laugh and kick all of their asses for making her feel more like a freak. But she went along anyway.

"_Torch of spirit sought through five,_

_Drinking strength from immortal fire,"_

"Ryo of Wildfire." Ryo said. Alvina watched as his eyes flashed with the immortal fire Wildfire was incorporated with. "Continue."

"The darkest prison sheds the light," 

"Sage of the Halo." Alvina saw his eyes flash green with the light.

"Churning beneath a swirl of salt," 

"Cye of the Torrent." Alvina saw the ocean in his eyes.

"Burning within a throne of rock," 

"Kento of Hardrock." His eyes glowed orange as he smiled at her friendly.

"_Floating among the eyes of ages,_

_Un-mourned in the stream of the sky."_

"Rowan of Strata." Alvina saw the stars dance in his eyes. She was stunned into silence. She baked up against the tree she was standing near. She looked at one boy to the next, making more sense of all of this.

"So they do exist," she said slowly, speaking more to herself. "The legend was true. My father spent countless hours working on the truth, working to find out if the Ronins do exist. Old Man Koji was right, they were both right. Nobody believed, but they never lost faith…"

The five boys gathered and stared at Alvina as she rambled on. Rowan had a strange look on his face.

"When she said 'Old Man Koji', you don't think she's talking about Mia's grandfather?" he asked.

"That's the only other Koji I know about doing research on us and our armors," Ryo said. "It has to be him. Somebody ask her."

"Alvina?" Cye said. Alvina came to an abrupt stop and looked at him.

"Did Old Man Koji have a granddaughter?"

"Yeah. I met her once. We were okay friends, but we drifted."

"What was her name?" Kento asked.

"Mia." They looked at each other. They were definitely talking about the same person. Cye was beginning to think she was in on the matchmaking as well.

"So, I'm not the only freak." Alvina straightened her posture and moved closer to the group. Her face was calm and her mind wasn't racing anymore.

"According to the information my father collected, the Dynasty would have made the comeback, try to take over the universe."

"We got rid of that threat," Rowan said. "It took a lot of time and effort and sacrifice on all of our parts."

"So, everything abnormal that happened then in New York and around the world, stemmed from you guys battling against evil?"

They all nodded. Alvina understood now. She knew it had to be true. She could sense it. She had that unnerving feeling of power when she first met them all. A different sense from each of them. She had never felt more comfortable with them than with anyone else. They knew how she felt, what it was like to have your life changed before your eyes. Above all… they _care._

"Your secret is safe with me," she said.

"And yours is with us."

The rest of the day went by quickly. Lunch was nothing special, unless you call Kento trying to steal your food special. The six teens sat under a large oak tree, enjoying each other's company before lunch was over and they had to march back into the prison school. As Alvina desperately tried to stay awake in her Physics class, he decided to play a little game with the unaware teacher.

However, she couldn't go out with the plan, and received a detention. As she was making her way up to the teacher's desk, Darres "accidentally" stuck his foot out and tripped her, causing her to fall. The entire class broke out in laughter as the teacher looked at her with flaming eyes. She glared up at Darres who smirked at her.

The end of the day finally came. The group waited outside by the fountain for Alvina to be done with her detention. Finally around ten to four, she came running out of the school doors as one of the teachers chased after her.

"And don't let me catch you with another one again!" the husky woman screamed. Alvina came to a stop in front of the group and smiled. They were looking at her with puzzled looks on their faces. Alvina only laughed.

"What was that about?" Kento asked. Alvina smirked.

"Oh nothing," she said casually. "She just caught me playing with a condom."

"WHAT?" Alvina was literally thrown backwards a few feet with the sudden impact of the exclamation.

"Relax," she said with a mischievous smile. "I was only kidding. I asked her to do that so I could play a joke."

As they walked down the sidewalk, Alvina and Cye fell behind to talk about nothing in particular. But the joke Alvina played whacked his mind.

"Alvina, can I ask you something?"

"You already did."

"Really, I want to know…" He trailed off. Asking the question he was going to took a stiff upper lip to come out and say it. But his hesitation made it known to Alvina what he was going to ask.

"No, I'm not." She said. Cye looked at her and she looked back, thinking about the memory.

"Three years ago, I was thirteen and I was out walking at night after arguing with my mother. It was late, later than I should have been out. I was walking down this dark street I was familiar with to be the gang street. I was grabbed from behind, pulled into and alley, and left for scrap. The police found me half dead by the shore line earlier that morning.

"The doctors did tests, and they were all negative. I had three broken bones in three different places, major damage to my reproduction organ, and had my innocence torn and burned in front of me. 'Twas then that I started training in self-defense and learning to street fight. That answer your question?"

"I can't even imagine what that had to be like…"

"And you don't want to. It's the most devastating thing anyone, male or female, can have taken from them, especially at such an early age. But I hope that my first _real _encounter would be better and not as painful."

They were quiet for the rest of the way back to the manor. Cye never realized how long she was in Hell. Compared to her life, fighting the Dynasty seemed like a baby playing with his food. Alvina's gone through more hardships than they have together as a group.

Once at home, the six youths all sat around at the kitchen table to work on their mountains of homework. As usual, Rowan was done before all of them, but they were surprised when Alvina finished before him.

"What's your IQ?" Rowan asked, looking up from his difficult Physics paper.

Alvina scrunched her face in concentration as she thought about it.

"Two hundred and eighty…five? Yeah, that's it." They all dropped their mouths.

"That's not normal…" Rowan said.

"I'm not normal," Alvina pointed out. "I never was."

After the homework was finished, dinner was made, Kento was chased out of the kitchen, Alvina made fun of Sage's hair, dinner was eaten and a movie was watched. After the movie was finished, they were all yawning enough to detach their jaws from their heads. One by one, they all trudged up the stairs to bed, Cye and Alvina being the last two awake and the last to head upstairs after everything was shut down for the night.

Cye followed Alvina to her door. He really didn't know why.

"Take it easy, Lover Boy," Alvina said playfully. "Don't go thinking that I would let you anywhere near my bed, even if we found out that we have tons in common."

Alvina smiled her mischievous smile as Cye's face turned a deep cherry red.

"Well, I guess I'll say goodnight then. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Cye nodded his head and started down the hall to his room. Alvina took a deep breath and walked out of her room.

"Cye?" He turned and stiffened when she got close. Alvina looked away from him for a few seconds before she quickly leaned up and placed a small kiss on his lips before dashing back to her room and closing the door.

Cye was in shock. He stood there in the middle of the hallway like a statue. He lost all train of thought, all sense of time and motion. For all he cared, he could have been there for hours. Apparently he had when Ryo stumbled upon him on his way to the bathroom.

"Hey, earth to Cye. Buddy, you in there?"

"Uh huh…" Cye slightly came out of his daze, but only enough to move his body the rest of the way to his room and into the covers of his bed. He didn't even bother to get undressed. Ryo watched his friend with a cautious eye.

When Sage came out of his room, he noticed that Ryo was standing at Cye's door. He walked over to him and looked inside.

"Sage," Ryo said. "Look at his face. What do you see?"

Halo looked at Torrent. His face was slightly flushed, even in the darkness. He was calm, and he was dreaming, a small smile on his lips. Sage wondered what would have him like that, but the thought hit him in the head at the same time it did Ryo. They looked at each other, smiled, shook each other's hands in accomplishment and made their way back to their rooms.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Hello, me again. I'm gonna push up the rating of these next few chapters for strong language and adult situations and some sexual implications. I'll watch what I do so I don't go overboard, cause sometimes I loose myself and I do. Cheers!

CHAPTER 6

Tuesday morning came with music. Cye hummed a simple tune as he made breakfast as Alvina was whispering a song to herself in Italian while she took her shower and dressed in her uniform. Ryo, Sage, Kento and Rowen all awoke with questions as to the early morning opera. Sage and Ryo remembered from the night before and told Rowen, knowing he could keep the secret to himself. There were obvious reasons why they didn't tell Kento.

"Why can't I know?" he pleaded to Rowen.

"Because you wouldn't be able to resist the possible wise cracks you could make if you knew. It needs to stay between Ryo and Sage. I actually told them that I didn't want to know."

"At least tell me who it's about… please?"

"Fine, it's about Cye. Now leave me alone. Don't you normally get chased out of the kitchen around this time?"

"I resent that." But Kento made his way to the kitchen anyway and as always, Cye chased him into the living room with a spatula.

Alvina didn't bother to show up for swim. She skipped it, still feeling upset over what happened the day before. But Sam started acting like Ryo and encouraged her enough to come out. She regretted it when all eyes went to her. She could feel the heat of their stares, but Sam was right beside her.

"Just disregard them," she said. "Don't even look at them. Find something in this room and keep your attention on that."

Alvina nodded and looked around for something. Or rather… someone. He gave fell upon Cye as he made his way up the ladder to the high diving board. She watched him as he started on a handstand before falling and doing three frontal flips before making a perfect dive into the water.

She thought about what she did the night before. Just to do that caused her to bring up her courage. She even debated with herself, but her heart won and she just went ahead and did it. Even though she bolted away from him, she felt so much relief afterwards. It was like a five hundred pound weight was lifted from her chest. She liked it, and hoped she could do it again.

At the end of class, the two coaches called a "Battle of the Sexes." Unfortunately, Alvina had the pleasure to go against Darres. She scowled at him when they stepped up to the starting point. The whistle blew and they dived. Alvina didn't hold back with him. Besides, the group already saw her the day before. Secret was out.

Alvina pulled herself out of the water and sat on the edge for Darres to catch up, since he was only making his turnaround when she pulled out. Darres made it to the end and nearly drowned when he saw Alvina sitting there. He pulled himself out of the water and cursed her under his breath. Alvina only smiled at him, which made him red with anger.

After class, Alvina and Cye were walking towards the courtyard to meet with the others for lunch. But as soon as she stepped out of the door, Darres was there to grab her. She yelped as she was pushed up against the building. Cye was trying to get at him, but the two goons were holding him back, along with a bunch of others who held back the others when they saw what happened.

"You have guts, you know that?" he seethed.

"Really?" she asked in a sarcastic manor. "I didn't know. A plus on anatomy for you."

Darres pulled her away and smashed her against the wall again. This time, Cye was sure he heard Alvina's head hit the brick wall. But through all of this, she didn't wince or flinch.

"Do you have any idea what you did to my rep?" he asked, putting a little more pressure on her neck. "I was respected amongst the swimmers, until you came along and demolished it all."

"That's very interesting," Alvina said. "Because when I got here, your ego couldn't fit through the door. I'm surprised that you even got outside."

"Bitch!" Darres dragged Alvina across the courtyard towards the fountain. "You are going to resent saying that after your bath." Once there, he attempted to throw her in, but she got the better hand (or knee) and jabbed him in the groin. That caused him to let her go. She ducked out of his way and flipped him headfirst into the water. He came up and sputtered for air and looked around at the laughing students. His gaze fixed on Alvina who had her arms crossed in a proud way. He raised a finger at her.

"You just wait," he said angrily. "Before this week is over you will be begging me for forgiveness." He got out of the fountain and ran off towards the school.

"Ohhhh, I'm shaking in my skirt!" she called after him.

Cye went up to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. She turned to him and looked into his worried face. She smiled slightly and he smirked at her, but noticed the dark spot on her head where she hit the wall.

"You're bleeding," he said. Alvina touched her head and felt the stickiness of blood in her hair.

"I should probably go and get this tended to," she said softly. She went to head to the nurse's office when she noticed the other grouping of students that were still gathered. She growled deep in her throat.

"What are you all still looking at?" she asked. "Show's over, back to your lives."

Alvina and the Ronins sat at the kitchen table doing another mountain of homework. Rowen and Alvina were of course finished first and went to help the others. Alvina held an ice pack to her head as she tried to concentrate on her help. She was forced to sit back down when a wave of dizziness washed over her.

"I could heal that for you," Sage offered. Alvina shook her head with a smile.

"Thanks, but I'll be alright."

"Will you be fine here by yourself?" Cye asked.

She nodded. As a result for her throwing Darres in the fountain, she was suspended from school for the next three days. She figured that to be a good thing because she didn't have to see Darres. She'd kill him if she did.

"I'll be okay. Lonely, but okay. Promise that you guys will bring back my homework so I could keep up?"

"Why?" Kento asked. "You're brilliant, more so than Rowen. Why should we even bother?"

"I have to keep this under wraps," she explained. "I'm a freak of nature. I can't have people finding out about this. Who knows? The government would want to run some tests on me and I don't want that to happen."

"But on other matters," Ryo said. "It was about time somebody showed Darres where he belongs. He was getting to me."

"My pleasure. He has to keep his ego under control, it could get him in trouble."

That night was spent watching a movie. Since it was Cye's turn to choose, they watched _Finding Nemo. _Ryo, Rowen and Kento sat on the couch, Sage was on the floor, Cye was sitting in the recliner and Alvina nestled into the overstuffed leather chair that could fit at least two people. She mindlessly scratched at Salem's ears while she watched the movie, slowly nodding off towards the end. The sudden ringing of the phone woke her up again and Kento got up to answer it.

"Hello?" The other line was a wild speaking woman. He had to pull the phone away from his ear otherwise he'd go deaf. The woman was frantically speaking English so he figured it had to be for Cye or Alvina.

"Alvina?" he said. "I think it's your mother."

She pushed Salem off of her lap and went to the phone. She listened to the woman and smiled.

"Thanks Kento. Hello? Mother?"

"Alvina Gladys Sakora Hoppkins, what is the meaning of this e-mail? It says that you threw a boy into the school's courtyard fountain. Why did you do that? How long are you suspended for? Alvina, I swear on your father's grave…"

"Mother, shut up! It was self-defense. He bashed my head into the wall of the building. He was pissed because I out swam him in class. He just can't take it being second best."

"You out swam him?" her mother asked. "You mean to tell me that you used your ability? How many people saw you?"

"The entire class. It's no big deal, I'm being careful."

"That's not an option. You better keep it under wraps. I knew it was a bad idea to let you go. The world can't handle you."

"That's not true…"

"I don't want to hear it, Alvina. You're coming home. I'm going to arrange a flight ticket for you in a week. When your suspension is over, don't go back to the school."

"Mother, that's not fair."

"I don't care," she said. "You are coming home even if I have to come and get you. End of discussion."

Alvina stood there with the phone still in hand. Her mother had long hung up. She slowly placed the receiver back on the stand and wiped a stray tear from her face, only to have more fall. She turned to the living room door to see the others staring at her. She took a few deep breaths and smiled a fake smile.

"That was my mother," she said, her voice quavering. "I'm going back to Cardiff in a week."

"Why?" Rowen asked softly.

"Because I let my secret get out… excuse me."

Alvina ran out of the room and up the stairs to her bedroom. The five listened to the slamming of her door and felt their own disappointment in the situation. Cye was hit worse than the others were, considering the fact that he was the one closest to her, in his opinion.

"You think she really wants to be alone?" Kento asked.

"It's the best for now, I guess." Ryo wasn't sure though. "Give her an hour and we'll check on her, she how she's doing."

One by one, they all turned to their rooms for the night, thinking that it didn't mean anything if they _all _couldn't finish the night. Cye was last. He merely sat in the overstuffed leather armchair, thinking about Alvina, and the fact that she was leaving in a week. Her visit was short lived, but sweet all the same. He didn't want her to go, but it wasn't his decision.

He felt something tap his leg, pulling him out of his train of thought. He looked down to see a small black cat pawing at his pant leg. The cat looked up at him with orange eyes and leapt up onto his lap.

"Alvina closed the door before you could get in, didn't she?" he asked the cat, stoking him. All he got was the soft purring from the black ball of fur. "Or is it because you like this chair?"

Salem continued to purr. Cye just closed his eyes in an attempt to clear his already cleared head. After a while, he just fell asleep.

The tears finally stopped. It took about two hours, but they stopped, leaving Alvina's face red and raw with her eyesdry and irritated. Her face burned with the salt from her tears, making her very uncomfortable. She got up, ignoring the dizziness that came with her head injury and made her way to her door. She opened it and felt her way down the dark hallway to the bathroom. She closed the door and turned on the light, making her irritated eyes hurt more.

She turned on the sink faucet and soaked a washcloth in the cold water. Wringing it out, she dabbed at her cheeks and forehead. She felt better, but her eyes still hurt. She looked around and found a small container of Visine. She took it and read the label, making sure it was what it was. She put two drops in each of her eyes and blinked them a few times. She looked into the mirror and half-heartedly smiled.

"You really screwed up this time, Alvina," she said to her reflection. "This was worse than your raping incident. Now, you won't be able to even leave the house. Good work girl, you have just ruined your reflection's remaining life."

In her frustration, she banged her forehead against the cool glass, making the wall shake slightly from impact. She was sure she had awoken the light sleepers.

"Damn. What else can I do?"

She made her way out of the bathroom and down the main stairs to the living room. When she reached the bottom, she almost jumped when she saw Cye in the chair. She looked more closely at him and realized that he was asleep, Salem rolled into a ball on his lap. She smiled, and leaned back against the wall. Images and thoughts going through her head. But then a pesky voice interrupted her dreaming.

_You love him, _it said. _There's no doubt about it. _

**_So? _**She asked it back. **_I know I love him, but I don't think he loves me. _**

_Did you at least give him a chance to say anything to you? _

_**No…**_

_Why? _Alvina thought about it. She was going to lie, but she knew her inner self wouldn't allow it.

**_Because I'm afraid he'll deny it. I'm afraid to have my heart crushed any more than it already is. _**

_But you won't know unless you give it a chance. If he doesn't make the move, then you will._

_**No I won't.**_

_Yes, you will. Don't deny me, I'm your ethical consultant._

Alvina laughed at her strange mind. She amazes herself at how crazy she can be. But then again, it would get quite boring in her head if she didn't. She threw her head back, unaware of the wall and hit her wound. She let out a fairly audible yelp of pain and covered her mouth when she remembered Cye.

It was too late though; Cye was awake and pushing himself out of the chair. Within moments, he was beside her, examining her head.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "That sounded like it hurt."

"Of course it hurt," she said. "This wound hurts like a bitch. One of these days, I'm gonna give that bastard Darres an identical one and see how he likes it. Ow! Stop."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to press real hard." She turned her head to face him in the darkness, almost thrown back at how close they were. She admired his eyes, at how stunningly brown they were and at how much emotion they held. She really could see the ocean in his eyes.

Cye felt his breath catch in his lungs as he stared into Alvina's stunning blue eyes. It was like walking into a cold fire, but being soothed rather than burned. It almost looked as if her eyes were illuminating the area around them. He was comfortable around her, and he loved the feeling… he loved _her._

Without thinking about what she would do, he closed the few inches between them, catching her lips with his. He really wouldn't call it a kiss since he merely brushed against her lips. He instantly felt his face heat up from embarrassment and made to get up from his kneeling position.

Alvina thought otherwise. She grabbed the collar of his tee shirt and pulled him back down beside her and covered his lips in an actual kiss, it growing more passionate with each passing second. Alvina wrapped her hands around Cye's neck and used him for support in their position. Cye was literally pushing her into the wall.

But neither of them cared. The feeling they were creating between themselves was enough to make up for any discomfort they inflict. They both moaned against each other when they allowed their tongues to explore. They both smiled as they tasted each other. To Cye, Alvina tasted like cinnamon and sugar, like she ate AppleJacks not too long ago. Alvina thought that Cye tasted almost like mint chocolate.

Whether or not they ate those respected things earlier that night, they didn't care. For all the worth in the world, it could only be their minds making them believe that what they are tasting.

But remembering that they were mammals, they had to breathe. They parted all too reluctantly and stared at each other, their lungs panting for oxygen and thanking them for taking a break.

"I've been wanting to do that since the day I met you," Cye whispered.

"Me too," Alvina admitted. "It's been driving me crazy. I thought I didn't have a shot because I was too different. Then I learned your secret and thought that maybe I did, since you, all of you, knew what it was like to not be normal. Then I was just afraid you'd push me away if I told you."

"You didn't seem all that afraid when you kissed me last night."

"Are you kidding me? I was terrified. Why do you think I ran away so fast?"

They giggled to each other and listened to the grandfather clock strike three times. It was late, Cye had to go to school later and Alvina had to start packing. She figured that all the stuff she brought would take her a least a few days to pack everything.

Once back upstairs, Cye and Alvina shared one last goodnight kiss before walking into their rooms for the night.

A/N: There you go. R&R please and I'll get the next chapter up as soon as I can!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Ronin Warriors are not mine. Darres' name I borrowed from Vampire Game (Judal) because I liked the name. Any other characters that seem out of place are mine. Chapter 7, enjoy!

Chapter 7 

Out of pure wanting, Alvina woke up a little later than she normally would. She wasn't in the mood to walk this morning. Instead, she just made her way down the stirs into the kitchen. Just as she suspected, Cye was at the stove, cooking. Ryo was brushing White Blaze, Rowan held off Kento in the living room and Sage was reading the newspaper at the kitchen table.

"Morning everyone," she said with a half yawn. They all nodded.

"I missed your presence this morning," Sage said looking up from the paper. "Did you take a different route for your walk?"

"No, I slept in. I didn't get to sleep until late. Later than usual."

Everyone sat down at the table when Cye called that the food was done. The all ate in silence, even Kento. Alvina picked at her food and thought about the night before, the bad… and the good. The sound of her mother's voice played over and over in her head, angry, ticked, whatever you want to call it. Her mother was not happy with her. Alvina could only think about what she is going to do when she gets back to Cardiff.

She looked at all the faces around her. She admired them each individually, uniquely. Ryo was the hot head. She could plainly see that, but he made up for it with his kindness and big heart. Rowan was the practical one, the Braniac of the group but still kind and understanding. Kento… he is just a fat full of love and carefree feelings. Sage just seemed secluded and mature. But he cares all the same.

Her eyes lingered longer on Cye than the others. He was the one she didn't want to leave. Even though it was just last night that they opened to each other, it seemed all too soon that she had to leave. HE was the calmest of the five, and she noticed that he really isn't the fighting type. He was perfect for her; he was just what she needed to balance her since she was active, blunt and easy to piss off.

"I'm gonna miss you guys," she said softly. They all looked at her, apparently seeing the sadness. "You guys are the only real friends I've ever had, and I want to thank you for your friendship."

They all looked at her as she tried and failed to keep the tears from falling. They were quiet, silent, as they listened to her inner screaming and wailing. They knew she had to be.

Kento stood from his place at the table and went over to Alvina, throwing his arms around her in a friendly hug. A few seconds later, Cye joined in sandwiching her between them. Sage, Ryo and Rowen also joined in the group hug. Her whimpers turned into sobs of happiness to feel so safe with them.

"You're our little sister now," Kento said. "You're always gonna have a home here."

"Thank you," she whispered. "All of you."

-------------

Alvina stood on the front walkway and watched as Ryo's red jeep drove down the dirt driveway. Salem was being held in her arms and White Blaze was sitting next to her. She looked up at the sky and saw dark storm clouds coming in from the east.

"Looks like we're gonna have some rain boys," she told the cats. "Let's go inside."

She headed up to her room and opened the closet door. She pulled out her large suitcases and placed them on her bed. Within a few hours she was packed, the bags placed in a corner. She sat on her bed as she stared at the sketching notebook and colored pencils before her. She realized that she didn't do one piece of artwork since her plane ride here. She needed to draw something, but she didn't know what.

"Well," she said to Salem. "If you can't think of what to draw, pick up a pencil and record your mind."

And that's what she did. She took hold of her sketchbook and opened it to a fresh new page. She blindly picked up a colored pencil and looked at it. It was a solid shade of green, and Sage's face popped into her head. Her hand moved with grace and speed as she mindlessly sketched Sage in a forest scene. He stood upon the tip of a mountain, birds, butterflies and other animals flying and moving around him. The background was an intricate pattern of different leaves form different trees and vines.

One she finished with the base, she took a deeper green pencil and added shading and depth to the sketch. Once the sketch was finished, Sage stood loosely but proudly on a page like he was right there. An idea came to her head and she carefully ripped out the page and placed it aside, picking up a red pencil and starting again. Then an orange pencil, a purple pencil, and finally a blue one.

Minutes turned to hours as page after page in her sketchbook littered the bed and the floor around her. The same thing on each page. She had drawn the guys in different poses, different situations. She even did portraits of them with their girlfriends.

There was one page left in her sketchbook. She looked at all of the other sketches and realized what she had forgotten. Once again, she picked up a light blue pencil and gently sketched Cye again with water encircling him. This last sketch she took the longest, dwelling on it far longer than she normally would.

She had collected all of the loose papers and separated them, placing each stack in a different manila envelope. She would wait to give them later. Right now, she needed to get something. She pulled on her shoes and left the house. She walked down the gloomy driveway, the dark clouds threatening rain.

It didn't take her long to get to town. She searched around for a craft store, finding a small one on the corner of town. She entered into it just as the rain began to fall. The place was small, not much to offer or choose from. She was the only one there. She didn't like the gloomy feeling, considering that she was already as low as she could get emotionally. She searched the racks and found the thing she was looking for and paid the old man teller and got out.

The rain soaked her to the bone as she aimlessly walked back to the manor. She was no rush. Thunder clapped above and shook the ground beneath her. The wind blew the rain hard and made it into a stinging rain that slapped her face and bare arms. Her hair stuck to her neck, and she started shivering. She sped up and made her way up the muddy drive way to the manor.

Once inside, she looked at the clock and found that the guys would be out of school in half an hour. She kicked off her boots and quickly made her way to the bathroom and turned on the hot water so she wouldn't get sick. She stripped away her wet clothes and dropped them on the floor. She stepped into the steaming shower and stood there, allowing the water to massage her cold body.

Everything and nothing ran through her head. She replayed day one here in Japan, the day she met Cye, the day she made five new and wonderful friends. Nine new friends if you count their girlfriends. If it weren't for them, she wouldn't have made it for an hour. What started as a simple thing to get away from Cardiff and visit the home place of her father actually turned into something she can't quite name. Something she was grateful for, because she found Cye.

Another clap of thunder broke her thought and brought her back to earth. The water had gone cold so she turned it off and stepped out. She wrapped a towel around her and gathered her wet clothes. She went to her room and put her wet clothes in a plastic bag and dressed in a light blue silk pajama set.

She sat on her bed and took out the purchased picture frame. She wiped off the rain and carefully placed her last sketch in it. She put the glass piece back in place and looked at the final product. It was complete then, her final gift to her friends for showing her that being different was okay, that you could live with it and still be you. She owed them so much, but could give only so little.

She felt old. Older than she actually is. So much had happened in such little time that it felt like eons had passed. She couldn't understand it, she couldn't believe that everything was falling apart. She didn't want to leave; she didn't want to go back to her life of seclusion in Cardiff. It was like she was drinking from a glass of water after being dehydrated for weeks and was suddenly deprived of it before she even got a drop. This was hell.

Dinner was eaten in silence that night. No one spoke or made a sound. Alvina only picked at her food; even Kento didn't have much of an appetite. Alvina stood from her place at the table and retreated up the kitchen stairs. The five boys watched her leave, feeling pain and sadness for their newfound friend.

Cye couldn't stand it. He also left the group and went upstairs. He lingered outside of Alvina's door. He listened, but could hear nothing on the other side of the door. No sobbing, no crying, no breathing… nothing. He placed his hand on the doorknob, fighting himself to decide whether to go in or leave her to herself.

He shook his head. He knew better than that. He saw her at dinner; he saw how she's been declining since the phone call from her mother the night before. She talks less and less, and is basically going into a state of apathy. She was changing into a zombie. Her fire was burning out little by little and it was tearing him up inside.

He twisted the knob and entered the dark room. He closed the door behind him and looked around. Alvina was perched on the window seat, her forehead against the glass and staring out at nothing. Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled again. The wind blew but the rain did not fall. Cye reached out and caressed her cheek, feeling how cold it was.

Alvina didn't move. She didn't blink, or flinch or even twitch. All she did was continue to stare out of the window at the churning lake. Cye watched her in her misery, unable to take it any longer. In one swift and strong move, he grabbed her shoulders and forced her to look at him. Her eyes held sadness, pain… darkness in general. They were darker than her regular gentle blue.

"Stop," he said firmly. "What is wrong with you? This is not who you are. This is not the Alvina I fell in love with the moment I placed eyes on her. You're scaring me, Alvina. You're scaring all of us. You can't keep moping around like this; it's not healthy. The longer you stay this way, the more of a liability you are to yourself.

"I refuse to see you do this to yourself, Alvina. I love you too much to see you die. I've seen too much death in the wars. We all came close enough to death to reach out and touch it. Cease your lamenting, and your self-abnegation… and really look at me."

Alvina made no attempt to raise her eyes to his. She stared off into space, only able to just slightly register his words. Her slow and steady breathing went heavy and rigid. She stiffened her body to hold back the tears, but failed. She leaned into his arms, and he wrapped them around her.

"Don't let me go…"

Cye lifted her face to his, her black eyes regaining their rightful color. He wiped the tears from her face and eyes. He stroked her cheek with his thumb, allowing it to trail down her neck and over her collarbone to stop above her heart. She rested her hand over his, feeling his warmth and love flow through his veins. Cye bent down and captured her lips in his. A feather-soft touch.

They gave themselves to each other that night. They held onto each other like there would be no tomorrow. To Alvina, she wished there wasn't a tomorrow. As for Cye, he didn't care if time stopped. As long as Alvina was there beside him in the morning, he would be where he always wanted to be…

And that was fine with him.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: The usual disclaimers, but Alvina and Darres (name borrowed from Vampire Game by Judal) are my Ocs. R&R please!

CHAPTER 8 

Two days have passed since the night Alvina and Cye shared together. They had made it known that they were an item. Kento and Rowan were happy for their friend to have finally settled with someone. Sage and Ryo basked in their victory at finally having something work. But the situation of Alvina leaving the next morning sort of defeats the glory.

The group tried not to think about it. All they did was try to have as good a time as always until Alvina had to board the plane. The group skipped school that day, and their girlfriends joined them, blowing off everything they were going to do and spent the time out in the city.

Sage and Ryo spoke with Kento and he agreed to ask his parents if they could put together a farewell party for Alvina. His parents weren't happy that Kento skipped school, but they agreed to it anyway, happy as well that Cye found someone.

After a day at the park and at the beach, they all gathered up at the over decorated restaurant. They were the only ones there, and together they had a grand old time, playing games, making jokes, basking in Alvina's victory over Darres. Everything was perfect.

The group partied so hard that Alvina couldn't keep up the later it got. She fell asleep in Cye's lap sometime around nine thirty and they all took that as a sign to pack it up and head home.

Once there, Cye carried a sleeping Alvina up to her room. He laid her in her bed and slipped under the covers with her. Salem jumped up onto the bed between them and curled up in a black ball. Cye smiled at him and rubbed his head. He placed a small kiss on Alvina's cheek before drifting off.

Alvina awoke with a new sadness in her heart the next morning. Careful not to disturb her sleeping love, she slipped out of bed and dressed quickly. The sun had not yet risen in the sky, but she had to do something before she left.

She quietly exited the room and made her way down the hall to the stairs. She slipped on her boots and left the house. She broke out in a sprint towards the school, knowing that she would find the one she was looking for there at the soccer field. Why the soccer field, she didn't quite understand why he would be there, she just figured he would be.

The sky turned a blood red in the east as she came closer to the field. A small group of boys, maybe about three or four, sat on the low part of the bleachers. She slowed and walked the rest of the way, the four boys standing now and looking at her with wide eyes. The one who was the most surprised was the tall black-eyed boy.

"Came back for more?" he asked. Alvina stopped a few yards from him and stared dead at him. "Want some broken bones to go with your head?"

"Shut up Darres," she said. "I'm gonna do the talking, and you're gonna listen whether you want to or not. The rest of you beat it. This is between me and him only."

The other three boys looked at Darres. He threw his head to tell them to leave. When they didn't, he turned and glared at them all. Taking that as a death threat, they moved away and broke out in a run to get away. Darres turned back to Alvina who had moved a bit closer to him.

"What the hell do you want, bitch?"

"I only have one question to ask you."

"Well?"

"Why are you afraid of Cye and the others?"

"Excuse me? I'm not afraid of those twerps."

"Don't bullshit me," she said. "You are afraid of them. You wouldn't be so tough around them if you weren't. There is a specific reason why you are afraid of each of them, and I want to hear you tell me why. I already know, but I want to hear it from you."

Darres stared at her. Deep down, he knew she was right. He didn't know why she was asking this, but he figured he'd go along.

"Fine, you want the truth? Here it is: I've always been the best at everything I did. I was better than everyone I went against, and that went to my head. When I ended up transferring to Han A' High, I wasn't the best anymore. I was good at soccer before I went against Ryo. I had the best grades until I met Rowen. I had all the girls at my beck and call until Sage showed up. I was the strongest before Kento. The last thing I had to myself was swimming. When Cye joined the team and out beat me in the relay, I lost it. I couldn't take it, so I did everything to slow them up. How's that?"

Alvina said nothing at first. She listened and understood what was going on. He was proved wrong for his abilities. He worked so hard to out do the others that he made everything into a battle.

"They are not your enemies," she said. Darres looked at her. "I'm not your enemy either. Listen, Darres, the only enemy you're fighting is yourself. You're so bent up at trying to be the best that your abilities don't bring you joy anymore. You have to realize that they aren't here to squash you. That was never their intention. And that wasn't my intention when I swam against you that day.

"Darres, I want to be your friend. And I prey that you would be mine. I've gone through hardships you would not believe, and I'm sure you have as well. The punks you're hanging with are not your friends. They are your followers. Drop the bad ass act and come out to be who you really are. I'm leaving for Cardiff later in the morning. If you really understood what I said, you would meet me at gate thirty-six before eleven. You have potential Darres. If a sixteen-year-old can say that about someone who's almost eighteen, you know you can change whatever it is for you to really achieve it. Think about it."

Alvina turned without another word and walked back the way she came. She said what needed to be said, and she hoped it got through. Darres was better than this. She knew this, and he knew this. She just hoped that he would come to terms about it.

When she arrived back at the house, it was nearly six in the morning. Cye was on the front porch swing, manifesting a nervous hysteria when he saw her walking up the driveway. He bolted from his seat and jumped the porch railing and ran up to her, embracing her protectively.

"Where were you?" he asked. "I woke up and you were nowhere in the house. I searched the forest, nothing. You had us all worried."

"I'm sorry Cye," she said, hugging him back. "I didn't mean to scare you. There was something I needed to take care of before I leave."

The time went faster than the group wanted. The five hours that passed felt like minutes, and it was time to pack up the car and drive Alvina to the airport. After going through inspections and getting her luggage and Salem's cat carrier through to baggage cargo, they walked slowly toward the gate to her flight. They still had half an hour before they would be boarding, so all they did was sit in the seats that were provided.

Alvina stood by the window and stared at the large silver bird that would take her back to prison. Cye had his arms wrapped around her, Alvina's head resting against his chest.

About five minutes passed when the girls all showed up to see Alvina off and to say goodbye. They all hugged her, telling her that even though they didn't spend so much time together, that they were happy that she did come. Even they saw how happy Cye had become with her arrival, and now how heart broken he was that she had to leave a lot sooner than planned.

Alvina lifted Cye's left hand to look at his watch. She had only ten minutes left before she had to board, and only one person has yet to show. She had faith though; faith that what she said had sunk in. However, as if on cue, a familiar tall black-hair, black-eyed boy came walking up the hall to the gate.

"What the bloody hell are you doing here?" Cye asked, going to make a move towards Darres. Alvina held him back as she walked up to him. She smiled, and he smiled back, baffling the others greatly of what was going on.

"I thought about what you said earlier," he said. "You're right. I worked so hard to be the best instead of just having fun, and that hindered me to making friends of my enemies." He turned to the five boys and made a small friendly smile. "I hope you guys can forgive me for the way I've been treating all of you. Being the best went to my head and having you all beat me out messed me up. I turned against you instead of trying to forget about it.

"Alvina came to me this morning and opened my eyes. She made me realize that I've been playing myself for a fake, and that I wasn't being who I really am. The tough guy act was gust so I could stay strong, when it was really a showing of how weak I really am. Can we call a truce and be friends?"

Cye went up to him, and looked at him hard in the eyes. He gently smiled and nodded his head, holding out his hand. Darres took it and smiled.

"Truce then," Cye said. "You're forgiven by me."

"And me," Ryo said.

"And us too," Sage said as he, Rowen and Kento went up behind the others. Alvina walked up to Darres and hugged him friendly.

"And I forgive you too," she said. "Don't worry about what you did to me, all of that is in the past."

"Thank you."

The PA system turned on and announced that the boarding of Alvina's flight was in progress. She hugged everyone a second time, holding tightly to Cye. New tears fell from her eyes, and Cye only wiped them away. He bent down and lightly kissed her, savoring her taste so he wouldn't forget. She broke away when the announcer called the final boarding call. Alvina caressed Cye's cheek before walking down the platform onto the plane.

Cye and the others, including Darres, all watched as her plane took flight and disappeared into the sky. Cye felt empty, and he couldn't seem to pull himself away from the window. The others had to carry him down to the car and back into the house.

They all sat in the living room, Rowen and Kento on the couch, Sage on the floor, Ryo in the rocking chair and Cye by the window, looking out at the falling cherry blossoms. Kento looked around the room, unsure of what to say to break the unnerving silence. His eyes fell on the fireplace mantle and noticed the brown paper package that was propped against the wall.

"Hey, what's that?" he asked. They all looked to where he was pointing and Cye went over and picked it up. He undid the twine and unwrapped the paper. Inside were five different manila envelopes and another brown paper wrapped item with a letter. He passed out the five large envelopes to those whose names were on them and unfolded the letter. He skimmed it and read it aloud to the others.

"'Dear Ryo, Cye, Sage, Kento and Rowen. If I planned it correctly, Kento would have been the one to see this package first. Anywho, I just wanted to thank you all again for being my friends, and for a short time, my family. I was sitting in my room on Tuesday with you guys on my mind and an empty sketchbook on my lap. Closing my eyes, I pictured each of you, and I basically drew your souls the way I saw them. The inner package I would like it if you opened it after viewing each of your envelopes separately.

"'Once again, thank you. My best wishes to all of you and your girlfriends. Keep me posted on what happens with Darres, and call me so I don't forget your voices. All my heart and friendship, Alvina. PS: Don't get the wrong impression.'"

Cye placed the page on the coffee table so the others could look at the pink lettered words in her smooth handwriting. They then all looked at the other envelopes and to each other.

"Why don't we take turns?" Sage suggested. They agreed and Ryo opted to go first. He opened the envelope and pulled out the sheets of sketch paper. All of their eyes widened as he placed them on the coffee table for them all to see.

The first was a picture of Ryo standing at the mouth of a volcano. He was dressed in a flaming red kimono with lava and fire dancing around him. In his hand, he held a staff that was al tall as he was and on the top of the staff was the symbol of the Wildfire armor.

The second was a sketch of him and Sam, holding each other and staring into each other's eyes deeply, both of their bodies had no clothes, but a swirling twister of fire circled them. This picture was done in different shades of red where the first was done in regular colors.

The last was a black and white sketch of his face, showing his features like he was right there. It wasn't a two dimensional, but an actual 3-D type of sketch. His face was calm, but his eyes glowed with a calming, not threatening, red of the immortal fire he showed in his heart.

"Now I know why she said not to take any wrong impressions," Kento laughed as he picked up the sketch of Ryo and Sam. Ryo took back the paper and stuck his tongue out at his friend.

"Now you Sage," Ryo said.

Sage opened his and pulled out the three papers and placed them on the table. They were similar to Ryo's, except the positions were different.

Sage was standing on a mountain peak, dressed in a forest green kimono with a staff having the Halo symbol. The background was a design of different tree leaves and vines and an array of different animals ran and flew around him like the breeze.

The second showed him sitting Indian style on a floating rock with Dania on his lap in his arms. This was done if different shades of green. Flowered vines concealed their bodies. Dania's head was leaning against his bare chest, and Sage's eyes were closed, but his facial expression proved his love for her. He noticed a small piece of paper was still inside the envelope. He took it out and read it aloud.

"'Dear Sage. Give up the act and come out and tell her how you feel. Quit denying it or so help me I'll chop off your hair. It won't matter since Dania would love you no matter how you look.'"

The group burst out laughing as he turned a beat red. Once the peace was regained, they looked at the last picture, which was his head portrait. Everything was defined in 3-D like Ryo's was. You could swipe your hand over it and be surprised it's a two-dimension sketch. His eyes were the only things colored on the sketch, like Ryo's but only done in green that glowed with the power of the Halo.

Kento was next. He placed out his and they looked at the first. Kento was wearing an orange kimono and he stood on a cliff that over looked the Grand Canyon. His staff portraying the Hardrock symbol.

The second was of him and Anna in the middle of a sandstorm. Like the others, they were unclothed and the sand from the storm covered them. They both faced forward, Anna's arms around her chest and Kento having his arms around her, resting his chin on her shoulder. His was done with different shades of orange with some yellow.

The last was his head done in black and white with his eyes colored and glowing with the power of Hardrock. On his face was a large smile that gave away his soft side, apart from all of the toughness he normally portrays.

Next came Rowen. The first was of him in the Kimono with his staff wielding the Strata symbol. He was floating in space, the different constellations and planets floating around him.

The next was done with different shades of purple and dark blues. He and Jay Lee were dancing together in the sky with stars circling them, their eyes locked to each other.

The last was his head, his eyes colored and shining with stars to represent Strata. He had a relaxed look, more of a dreamy stare to his expression. He smiled, wondering if that's how he really looked.

"Yeah," the others said when he asked. He shrugged.

They had all shown their gifts, all except Cye. He opened his envelope slowly, gently taking out the contents and placing them on the table.

Cye was standing on the back of a blue whale in the middle of the ocean. He wore a blue Kimono and his staff held the Torrent symbol. Above in the sky was the constellation of Pisces, the two fish. Other sea creatures leaped out of the water and danced around the whale.

The second was of him and Alvina, both of their hands interlocked with the others and staring into each other's eyes, a tempest raging around them, done in different shades of blue and gray.

The last was his head, his eyes glowing with the light of the sea and the purity of his heart. He had a slight smile, like the rest, but something was added that they could all see easily. It was a filled spirit. Alvina drew what she saw, and she saw him whole and complete. Everyone did.

Ryo handed Cye the last package. Cye took it and looked at the group. Words didn't have to be said for Cye to understand that he was the one who should open the last gift Alvina left for them. He unwrapped the framed portrait. He looked at it, smiling to himself only.

He walked over to the mantle and placed the framed sketch on it so all could see. Alvina drew a collage.

In the center were the five armor symbols in the respective colors. Starting in the upper left-hand corner and going clockwise was Ryo with his arms around White Blaze. Moving around, the picture changed and Sage was shown in his white Kendo uniform with a wooden practice sword held over his head in a pose. Then there was Kento sitting at the kitchen table and eating his way through a royal sub. Going down was Rowen sitting in a large chair with books stacked around him, with him quietly reading one that was open in his lap.

Lastly, in the bottom left hand corner, Cye was swimming against someone on the swim team. Determination and dedication in his eyes.

The group stood in front of the mantle and looked at the final gift. Ryo scratched White Blaze's ears as he too looked up at the sketch. They were all silent; each of them reflecting on the week that she was here. And they all remembered their own precious moments with her.

Ryo remembered how she handled Darres that day in the mall.

Sage remembered how she got him to eat.

Kento had fun just learning about her.

Rowen was still amazed by her aptitude and her IQ score. He admired her way of wielding other languages, and turning simple words into poems and songs just by reading out of a book.

As for Cye, words couldn't be used for what he felt and what he remembered. His time with her was priceless to him, and always would be. He became whole with her, and he knew that no matter how far away they were or what blocked them from each other, they would always be in each other's soul and hearts. No matter what he does, he will see her again.

No matter what…

Well, that's it. This calls the end of The Torrent Settles. I'm going to be posting a bunch of oneshots that stem from this fic, and then I'm planning a five chapter dream thing and a five chapter other thing. I already said too much. You're just gonna have to wait and see. Thanks for your reviews and keep a look out for my other works! Cheers!

Guidacarta Della Sorella


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